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MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



ZEBULON BAIRD VANCE 



(Latk a Sknator kkom North Cauolina) 



DKI.IVERKl) IN THK 



SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



FiFTV-THiRi) Congress, Thirh Skssion. 



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CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate 5 

Memorial address by — 

Mr. Bate 4^ 

Mr. Blackburn 5° 

Mr. Call ^4 



Mr. Chandler 74 



69 

61 



Mr. Dubois ._ -- 

Mr. George 

Mr. Gray 55 

Mr. jARvis... 79 

Mr. Morrill 39 

Mr. Ransom 20 

Mr. Sherman 42 

Proceedings in the House °9 

Memorial address by — 

Mr. Alexander ^59 

Mr. Bland ^^9 

Mr. Bower ^^7 

Mr. Branch "^3 

Mr. Bryan '44 

Mr. Bunn ~S3 

i\Ir. Caruth '40 

Mr. Crawford '^3 

Mr. D.-^niels '2° 

Mr. Henderson of Iowa *°" 

Mr. Henderson of North Carolina 94 

Mr. Hooker of Mississippi "' 

Mr. McMiLLiN '31 

Mr. Springer '34 

Mr. Swanson --- '3^ 

Mr. Warner '5° 

Mr. Wheeler of Alabama '-" 

M r. Woodard '72 



Death of Senator Vance. 



Proceedings in the Senate. 

April i6, 1894. 

The Chaplain, Rev. W. H. Milbiirn, D. D., made the 
following prayer: 

O Eternal God, with bowed hearts we come to the foot 
of Thy throne. While the funeral knell sounds through 
the Capitol announcing the death of another Senator, 
while North Carolina mourns the departure from earth of 
a beloved and honored son, and the nation feels the loss, 
we bless Thee for his large native powers schooled in the 
wide experience of public affairs, and for his genial humor, 
enriching and illumining all subjects he touched, making 
him kindly with his kind, by virtue of which he shed the 
influence of a wise and beneficent counsel and character 
upon his native State and, by virtue of his place in this 
Chamber, upon the land at large. 

Grant to the widow and children under this sore bereave- 
ment the only comfort which can come to human hearts at 
such a time— unshaken faith in Thy holy Gospel and the 
consolation and sympathy of Thy beloved Son. As the 
earthly part of one of our brothers has ended upon the 



6 Proceedings in the Senate. 

border of the invisible world, grant that we hear from Thy 
lips, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: yea, 
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." 
We humbly pray, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour. 

Amen. 

***** 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH. 

Mr. Ransom. Mr. President, it is my melancholy duty 
to announce to the Senate the death of Hon. Zebulon 
Baird Vance, late a Senator from North Carolina. He 
died on Saturday night last at forty-five minutes past 
lo o'clock, at his residence on Massachusetts avenue, in 
this city. Though his long-continued and serious illness 
ought to have prepared all of us for the sad event, still, 
beguiled by his own cheerful and hopeful spirit, none of us 
had dreamed that the white horses were coming so rapidly 
to his door. 

His death shocks us to the depths of our hearts. It is 
a calamity, a sorrow, a deep public and personal bereave- 
ment. A great man has fallen in our midst; a great 
patriot, a great statesman, a great thinker, a great actor has 
passed away from our sight for this life. 

He died at his post of duty with his complete armor on, 
with his face to the front, courageous, hopeful, useful to the 
last. Sufferings did not break his proud spirit, nor dim his 
noble intellect, nor shake his fearless fortitude. Full of 
years, but still in the strength of his eminent faculties, 
crowned with exalted honors, but still animated with yet 
higher aspirations and promise of doing good, physically 
wrecked and overcome with incurable malady, he stood 
firmly in the line of his comrades and at the last moment 



Proceedings in the Senate. 7 

serenely gathered liis robes around liim and stepped with 
the dignity of a Senator and the faith of a Christian from 
earth into eternity. It looks as if by some prophetic intui- 
tion he had returned from the spring flowers and the genial 
skies of Florida to lay down his sword and shield on the 
very altars of his country. 

This is not the time for the analysis of his character; 
for eulogies of his virtues; for the history of his illustrious 
services. On some fitting day I shall ask the Senate to do 
justice to his honored memory. 

But, sir, I should commit a very great wrong not to say 
now with what unspeakable pain and infinite grief the 
death of Senator Vance smites the people of North Caro- 
lina. For more than forty years, in peace and in war, he 
has been the most beloved and the most honored son of 
that great State. From the ever flowing ocean, across the 
hills and plains and valleys to the majestic mountain tops, 
he was a familiar and most dear object to the hearts and 
homes of all our people. Language can not describe the 
admiration and love and gratitude of those of all ages of 
both sexes; of every class, condition, and race; of the 
whole people of North Carolina, for this great and good 
man, their benefactor and bulwark in prosperity and adver- 
sity. Standing by his lifeless form to-day, it is my sacred 
duty, representing a Commonwealth of nearly 2,000,000 
souls, to shed upon his mortal ashes the tears of their affec- 
tion and deepest sorrow. 

He seemed, sir, as if by destiny to hold in his hands the 
hearts of the people, and at this moment the throbbing 
breasts of thousands are following his silent march to the 
tomb. If he had faults the)' were bold, brave, open faults, 



8 Proceedings in the Senate. 

which are forever eclipsed and forgotten in the splendor 
of a great and glorious life, and in the magnanimity of a 
noble nature. 

As I think of the short interval at which he follows the 
beloved Georgian from the folding doors of this Chamber 
to their last rest it looks as if two tall oaks which stood 
over and shaded our hearthstones had fallen in the early- 
evening, after the storm and heat of the day had passed, 
and before the shades of night and winter had fallen upon 
their autumnal leaves. Colquitt and Vance had done 
their duty to their country and their fellow-men. 

But I must not trust myself further. At the hour of 9 
to-night the committees of the two Houses of Congress, the 
entire delegation of the State of North Carolina, and the 
special committee from the State, with the sad family and 
friends, will leave the capital of the Star Spangled Repub- 
lic and bear the remains of Governor Vance through the 
sister State of Virginia to the beautiful capital of North 
Carolina, and thence take them to his burying ground on 
the mountain side overlooking the blue torrents of the 
French Broad and in sight of lovely Asheville, and there 
leave them in the shade of the evergreens and in the mir- 
ror and melody of flowing waters to sleep with his patri- 
otic fathers. And as the clouds at evening hang upon the 
bosom and eternal towers of Black jMountain, so will a 
shadow of sorrow rest upon the bosom of all his people. 
But the light of his life with the early rays of morning 
will dispel the gloom from the mountains and from their 
hearts. 

And now I can only venture, in the name of the stricken 
Senate, with gentlest sympathy to send to the noble and 



Proceedings in the Senate. 9 

devoted woman who for months, by day and night, with 
unwearied vigilance, has stood by him like an angel of 
light and love our heartfelt condolence and tenderness, and 
to hold np to his brave sons the ever living beacon of their 
father's life. He expired solaced in the arms and affec- 
tions of his wife and children. And may our Almighty 
Father, in His supreme and infinite goodness, bestow upon 
them His strength and comfort. 

Mr. President, I beg leave to ask consideration by the 
Senate of the resolutions which I send to the desk. 

The Vice-President. The resolutions will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with great sorrow of the death of the 
Hon. Zebulon B. Vance, late a Senator from the State of North Carolina. 

Resolved, That a committee of nine Senators be appointed by the Vice-Presi- 
dent to take order for superintending the funeral of Mr. Vance, which will take 
place to-day in the Senate Chamber, at 4 o'clock p. m., and that the Senate will 
attend the same. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect entertained by the Senate for his 
memory, his remains be removed from Washington to North Carolina in charge 
of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and attended by the committee, who shall have full 
power to carry this resolution into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these proceedings to the House of 
Representatives and invite the House of Representatives to attend the funeral 
to-day, Monday, at 4 o'clock p. m., and to appoint a committee to act with the 
committee of the Senate. 

The Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to 
the resolutions. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. ■ 

The Vice-President appointed as the select committee 
under the second resolution Mr. Ransom, Mr. George, 
Mr. Gray, Mr. Blackburn, Mr. Coke, Mr. Chandler, Mr. 
Dubois, Mr. White, and Mr. Manderson. 

He also announced as the honorar)' pallbearers Islr. Mor- 
rill, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Harris, and Mr. :\IcPherson. 



lo Proceedings /// tJie Senate. 

Mr. Ransom. Mr. President, I beg leave to offer the 
resolution which I send to the desk, and ask for its imme- 
diate consideration. 

The resolution was considered by unanimous consent, 
and unanimously agreed to; as follows: 

Resolved, That invitations be extended to the President of the United States 
and the members of his Cabinet, the Chief Justice and the associate justices of 
the Supreme Court of the United States, the diplomatic corps, the Major-Gen- 
eral Commanding the Army, and the senior admiral of the Navy to attend the 
funeral of the Hon. Zebulox Baird Vance, late a Senator from the State of 
North Carolina, in the Senate Chamber to-day, Monday, at 4 o'clock p. m. 

Mr. Jones of Arkansas, from the Committee to Audit 
and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate, 
reported the following resolution; and it was considered 
by unanimous consent, and agreed to: 

Resok'td, That the expenses incurred by the select committee appointed to 
take order for the funeral of the late Senator Z. B. Vance be paid from the 
contingent fund of the Senate. 

4= 4= ^ ^ ^ 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. 
T. O. Towles, its Chief Clerk, announced that the House 
had passed the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow the announcement 
of the death of Hon. Zebulon Baird Vance, late a Senator from the State of 
North Carolina. 

Resolved, That the Speaker of the House appoint a committee of nine mem- 
bers to act in conjunction with the committee appointed by the Senate to make 
the necessary arrangements and to accompany the remains to the place of burial. 

Resolved, That the House accept the invitation of the Senate to attend the 
funeral this afternoon at 4 o'clock. 

Resolved, That a recess be now taken until 3.45 p. m., at which hour the 
House will proceed in a body to the Senate Chamber to attend the funeral, and 
at the conclusion thereof, on return to its Chamber, the Speaker, as a further 
mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, shall declare the House 
adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House notify the Senate of the action of the 
House. 



Proceedings jn the Senate. ii 

The message also announced that the Speaker of the 
House had appointed Mr. Henderson of North Carolina, 
Mr. Black of Illinois, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Brookshire, Mr. 
Crawford, Mr. Daniels, Mr. Strong, Mr. Blair, and Mr. 
Houk as the committee to act in conjunction with the 
Senate committee to make the necessary arrangements 
and accompany the remains of the deceased Senator to the 
place of burial. 

At 3 o'clock and 53 minutes p. m. the members of the 
House of Representatives, preceded by the Sergeant-at- 
Arms and Clerk, and headed by the Speaker, entered the 
Senate Chamber. The Speaker was escorted to a seat at 
the right of the Vice-President, the Clerk at the Secre- 
tary's desk, and the Sergeant-at-Arms on the right of the 
Vice-President's desk, while the members of the House 
were escorted to seats on the floor which had been pro- 
vided for them. 

They were soon followed by the Chief Justice and asso- 
ciate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
the diplomatic corps, and the President and his Cabinet 
ministers, who were respectively escorted to the seats as- 
sic^ned them on the floor of the Senate Chamber. 

The casket containing the remains of the deceased Sen- 
ator was brought into the Senate Chamber, preceded by 
Rev. W. H. Milburn, D. D., the Chaplain of the Senate, 
and Rev. Moses D. Hoge, D. D., of Richmond, Va., and 
escorted by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, the com- 
mittees of arrangements of the two Houses, the honor- 
ary pallbearers of the Senate and House, and pallbearers 
selected from the Capitol police, and followed by the mem- 
bers of the family and friends of the deceased. 



12 Proceedings in the Senate. 

Rev. Moses D. Hoge, D. D., offered the following prayer: 

O God, most high, most holy, most merciful, with 
lowl}^ reverence of spirit and hearts subdued by the hal- 
lowed memories of the departed, and by the tender offices 
of the hour, we invoke Thy gracious presence, help, and 
benediction. 

Hear our prayer, O Lord; give ear unto our cry; hold 
not Thy peace at our tears, for we are strangers with Thee 
and sojourners as all our fathers were. 

Father of Mercies, ever assuring Thy chastened children 
of Thine unchanging love, be very near to us now in this 
the hour of our sorrow, as we come to cast our care upon 
Thee and to seek the strength and consolation Thou only 
canst impart. 

As a father pities his children, so do Thou pity us; as 
one whom his mother comforteth, so do Thou comfort 
us, and so sanctify our deepest distress that, being made 
partakers of Thy holiness, we may be prepared for ever- 
lasting blessedness in the world where, after the separa- 
tions of time, we may find our true home; where all who 
have departed in Christ await our coming, beyond the 
reach of sorrow and tears, in the realm of eternal light 
and gladness. 

Hear us, we beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy well- 
beloved Son, to whom, with Thee, O Father, and the Holy 
Spirit, we will give honor and glory forever. x\men! 

After reading the ninetieth Psalm and the fifteenth 
chapter of First Corinthians, Rev. Dr. Hoge delivered the 
following address: 

The shadow of a great sorrow has fallen on this Cham- 
ber. The bloom and fragrance of spring, the sun shining 



Proceedings in the Senate. 13 

bright and clear, bring no delight to our eyes, no cheer to 
our^hearts. What are all the aspects of this vernal season, 
what even the great subjects that absorb and agitate us 
in daily life, at this moment, when we see around us the 
badges of mourning, the tears of the bereaved, and when 
we look upon that bier and remember who lies upon it? 

In the discharge of the mournful office assigned to me, it 
is not my province to awaken those tender regrets which 
the recital of the personal virtues and public services of 
your late associate must ever excite. This grateful duty 
will be performed by those who are best qualified for it by 
long acquaintance and intimate association. 

These tributes to his memory when completed will not 
only form a permanent part of his personal history, but an 
addition to the history of the State he represented and 
served so well. Nor can I speak of that genial spirit- 
oftentimes jubilant— which made him such a favorite with 
the people, nor of other attractive qualities of mind and 
heart which converted acquaintances into friends, and 
which now, to be enjoyed no more, converts friends into 

mourners. 

The only theme on which it is becoming in me to dwell 
takes us to a higher plane, and I could preface what I 
wish to say by the declaration that the first requisite to 
the highest and most symmetrical development of what is 
noblest in man, be he soldier, sage, or Senator, is sincere, 
consistent, heartfelt piety. There are indeed mere natural 
virtues which command respect and admira'.ion, but after 
all "a Christian is the highest style of man." 

Piety toward God is the surest incentive to the full 
discharge of all duties toward man, the truest and most 



14 Proceedings in the Senate. 

unfailing inspiration of honor, the strongest safeguard of 
personal integrity, the most efficient aid in the pursuit and 
attainment of whatsoe\'er things are just and true and 
lovely and of good report. The man who ever lives as 
under "the great Taskmaster's eye," who believes and 
remembers that God is now the witness of his conduct and 
to be his final judge, and who, in all his acts, personal and 
official, strives to maintain a conscience void of offense, is 
the man who above all others will be most fearless in meet- 
ing every responsibility and most faithful in discharging 
every trust. This is the spirit which elevates its possessor 
above all that is ignoble, narrow, and selfish, because all 
the ends he aims at will be those of "country, God, and 
truth." How true this picture is of our lamented brother 
and friend let your hearts attest. 

And now, remembering on whom the bereavement falls 
with heaviest weight, what can we do but take her in the 
arms of our faith, sympathy, and Christian aff"ection, and 
commit her to the care and love of our Father in Heaven — 
to the protection and sustaining grace of our Elder Brother, 
whose hand alone is soft enough to wipe away the tears of 
bereavement and tender enough to bind up the bleeding 
heart. May God comfort His handmaiden, and all dear to 
her, and be their strength, song, and salvation. 

To-day the voice of Providence unites with the voice of 
inspiration in admonishing us that all the glory of man is 
as the flower of the grass. 

We are told that Massillon, about to deliver one of his 
wonderful funeral orations, found himself in a church sur- 
rounded with all the pomp and pageantry of the court. 
The church was not only hung with black drapery, but the 



Proceedings in the Senate. 15 

light of day was excluded, and only a few dim tapers 
burned on the altar. 

The beauty and chivalry of the land were there. The 
King was clothed in sackcloth and bowed with grief. 
There was silence, a solemn hush pervading the assembly. 
Massillon arose. His hands were folded on his breast; 
his eyes were lifted toward Heaven. ^ He stood mute and 
abstracted. Presently his fixed look was unbent; his eye 
roved over the scene where every pomp was displayed, 
where everv emblem of rank and power was exhibited. 
The eye could find no resting place amidst all this parade 
and histrionic mourning. At length it settled on the bier 
on which lay dead royalty, covered with a pall. A sense 
of the indescribable nothingness of man at his best estate 
overcame the preacher, until in a scarce audible voice he 
startled the deep silence with the words: "There is noth- 
ing great but God ! ' ' 

To-day this Senate Chamber, by a solemn dispensation, 
is converted into a "lodge of sorrow," and here in an 
audience containing those who occupy the highest posts 
of influence and power in this land all temporal distinc- 
tions for the moment seem to be forgotten, as well as all the 
questions of absorbing interest which agitate the public 
mind, and in the presence of the dead— in the presence of 
the Great Judge of quick and dead — one pathetic utterance 
alone arrests our attention: " :\Ian that is bormof a woman 
is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a 
flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and 
continueth not." Once more are we warned that pallid 
death, with impartial hand, knocks at all -doors; he enters 
with equal freedom the homes of the humble and the gates 



1 5 Proceedings in the Senafe. 

of the Capitol ; he casts his chilling shadow over the lowly 
hovel and the halls of national legislation; he strips off the 
rags of the pauper and the robes of the Senator; and so, 
to-dav, pride, ambition, vainglory, and the strifes and ani- 
mosities of the hour, veil their faces, and eternal things 
alone seem worthy of supreme regard. Once more we hear 
the voice coming out of the bygone century: "There is 
nothing great but God ! ' ' 

If by the mournful providence which has summoned us 
here we are taught more impressively than ever the evanes- 
cence of all earthly good; if we are possessed afresh with 
the conviction that " he builds too low who builds beneath 
the skies;" if we are led to the cross, where the defenseless 
find shelter and the guilty find pardon; if through the grace 
which fortifies the soul against the dread of death we gain 
preparation for the duties of life; if we address ourselves 
with new resolution to the discharge of those duties with 
minds chastened and hearts purified by affliction, then this, 
sad providence will have accomplished its salutary purpose. 

The heart that so lately throbbed with patriotic ardor 
is still. The lips that so lately moved in prayer for God's 
blessing on country, church, and home are mute; but be 
it ours to keep alive the sacred flame and to prolong the 
prayer that Heaven's best benediction may rest on this 
confederated empire of imperial States; on its Chief Magis- 
trate and all associated with him in the responsibilities of 
office; upon the houses of State and national legislation; 
upon all our citizens in their homes; upon all the people 
of this great land from North to South and from East 
to West, that all may learn more and more to cherish tlie 
relations which unite them as children of one Father and 



Proceedings in flie Senate. 17 

as citizens of one country; that freedom founded on justice 
and oruarded by constitutional law, with religion pure and 
undefiled permeating all, may secure to us a perpetual her- 
itage of harmony, prosperity, and peace ; and to God, most 
high, will we ascribe, as is most due, all honor and glory 
evermore. Amen. 

And now, as the closing exercise in this service, I will 
read the followinof hvmn : 



THY WILL BE DONE. 



My God and Father, while I .stray 
Far from my liome, on life's rough way, 
O teach me from my lieart to say, 
Thy will be done ! 

Let Imt my fainting Iieart be blest 
With Thy sweet Spirit for its guest, 
My (lod, to Thee I leave the rest; 
Thy will be done ! 

Renew my will from day to day; 
Blend it with Thine; and take away 
All tliat now makes it hartl to say, 
Tiiy will be done ! 

Then, when on earth I breathe no more. 
The prayer, oft mixed with tears before, 
ril sing upon a happier shore, 
Thy will be done ! 

The benediction was pronounced by the ChajDlain of the 
Senate. 

The Vice-President. The committee of arrangements, 
conducted by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, will es- 
cort the remains of the deceased Senator from the Cham- 
ber to the depot of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, 
and from thence to the place of burial in the State of 
North Carolina ; and after they have left the Chamber the 
S Mis 151 2 



1 8 Proceedings in the Senate. 

guests of the Senate will depart in the reverse order of 
their entrance. 

The casket was borne from the Chamber, attended by the 
Sergeant-at-Arms, the honorary pallbearers, the committee 
of arrangements, and the family of the deceased Senator. 

The invited guests having retired from the Chamber, 

Mr. Ransom. Mr. President, as a further mark of respect 
to the memory of my deceased colleague, I move that the 
Senate do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate adjourned 
until Tuesday, x\pril 17, 1894, at 12 o'clock m. 



1 



V 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

January 19, 1895. 
:Mr. Ransom. Mr. President, I ask leave to submit for 
adoption the resolutions which I send to the desk. 

The President pro tempore. The resolutions will be 

read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, and the>- were con- 
sidered by unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to; 
as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
Hon. Zebulon B. Vance, late a Senator from the State of North Carolina. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the busi- 
ness of the Senate be now suspended to enable his associates to pay proper 
tribute to his high character and distinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the House of 

Representatives. 

19 



20 Address of Mr. Ransom of NortJi Carolina. 



Address of Mr. Ransom.. 

Mr. President: The Senate is asked to render its last 
duties of honor and sorrow to the memory of the Hon. Zeb- 
ULON Baird Vance, late a Senator from North Carolina. 

In this Chamber on the i6tli of last April, two days 
after his death, the Senate lighted its black torches around 
the lifeless form of that most honored and beloved son of 
our State, and his mortal figure, covered with the white 
flowers of spring and love, and hallowed by the sacred 
devotions of religion, passed amid tears like a shadow from 
these portals forever. To-day his associates on this floor 
are here to place on the ever-living annals of the Sen- 
ate the record of their admiration and affection for his 
virtues. 

I take this summary- from the Congressional Directory: 

Zebulon B. Vance, of Charlotte, was born in Buncomlje County, N. C, May 
13, 1S30; was educated at Washington College, Tennessee, and at the University 
of North Carolina; studied law; was admitted to the bar in January, 1852, and 
was elected county attorney for Buncombe County the same year; was a mem- 
ber of the State house of commons in 1854; was a Representative from North 
Carolina in the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses ; entered the Confederate 
army as captain in May, 1861, and was made colonel in August, 1861; was. 
elected governor of North Carolina in August, 1862, and reelected in August, 
1864; was elected to the United States Senate in November, 1870, but was 
refused admission, and resigned in January, 1872 ; was elected governor of North 
Carolina for the third time in 1876; and in January, 1878, was elected to the 
United States Senate; was reelected in 1885, was again reelected in 1S91, and 
died at his residence in Washington, April 14, 1894. 

His paternal and maternal ancestors both were Revolu- 
tionary patriots. I have often passed the spot where he 
was born. The "Vance homestead" was a large frame 



Life and Characier of Zcbulon Baird Vance. 2i 

building of the "olden time," with broad stone chimneys, 
indicative of comfort and hospitality. It stood near the 
French Broad River and in the midst of the Blue Ridge 
Mountains. Now the house has been taken down and 
only a few stones remain to mark the site where it once 
was. It is a place of beauty. In front of it the river is 
smooth and placid as a lake; above and below it dashes 
and roars into a mountain torrent, and you almost hear the 
echoes of the ocean. Around it the great mountains tower 
like giants, and their dark forests are mirrored in the deep 
blue bosom of the stream. On this scene, amid sublimity 
and beauty, Vance first beheld the light of heaven. From 
this beautiful river, from these sublime mountains, from 
neighboring scenes, all bristling with heroic and patriotic 
recollections, he received his first impressions. These were 
the books from which he learned the lessons that were to 
be the foundations of his illustrious career. He was the 
son of the mountains, and I rarely looked on him without 
being reminded of them. 

I know but little of his boyhood, but if the Senate will 
pardon me I will speak of an incident that illustrates his 
character. In the canvass of 1872 I was with Governor 
Vance in the mountain counties of our State. Passing 
from Asheville over the mountain to Burnsville, we made 
a short stop at the home of Nehemiah Blackstock, not 
far from Ivy Creek. Squire Blackstock was nearly eighty 
years of age and his good wife was but little younger. He 
had been the surveyor of Buncombe County for more than 
forty years. I shall never forget the meeting of Governor 
Vance and that venerable couple. They fell on each 
other's necks— they embraced and wept. They had not 



22 Address of Afr. Ra>iso))i of North Carolina. 

met for years before. ' The conversation was short, not a 
half hour long, and consisted mainly of reminiscences. 
Vance, when a boy, had lived with the old people and 
attended a country school close by. IMrs. Blackstock, beam- 
ing with joy, asked him if he remembered the scenes of 
his schoolboy days and vividly depicted his wild, way- 
ward mischief, his frolics, his pranks, his plays with the 
girls, his wrongs to the boys, his visits to the orchards, 
his raids upon the watermelons, his practical jokes, his 
offenses to the teacher, and many similar aberrations. 

When old Mr. Blackstock, with a benignant smile, said, 
"Well, you may say what you will about Zeb; he was 
a mighty bad boy and hard to control, but he had one 
redeeming quality that made up for all his faults. Zeb 
would tell the truth. When you missed your eggs that 
you wanted so much for the preacher, and were so mad 
that the}' were gone, and all the boys denied everything 
about them, Zeb came up like a man and told that he took 
them, but he would not tell who helped him eat them. 
He would always tell the truth" — then I knew that from 
his boyhood on truth had been Vance's star; and what a 
star! 

At the university Vance remained two years, and pur- 
sued a selected course of studies, and soon made a name for 
genius, wit, and oratory. He was an especial favorite of 
President Swain, who for so many years had exerted a 
powerful influence in elevating and directing the youth 
of the South and made all of us who came under it better 
citizens and better men. Young Vance was extremely 
popular with the students and also with the people of the 
village of Chapel Hill. Even then reports came from the 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 23 

university of his brilliant wit, his striking originality, and 
his high promise. 

He served one session in the State legislature, and there 
gave unmistakable earnest of the illustrious life before 
him. 

He was elected to the House of Representatives in the 
Thirtv-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses and took distin- 
guished position in that assembly, which has been the lists 
of so many statesmen. In 1861, upon the adjournment of 
Congress, he returned home, and, seeing that war was 
inevitable, raised a company of volunteers, marched to Vir- 
einia, and was soon after elected colonel of the Twentv- 
sixth Regiment of North Carolina Infantry, a regiment 
justly distinguished for the largest loss of killed and 
wounded at Gettysburg. 

He had always been opposed to the secession of the 
Southern States; did everything possible to avert it, and 
was one of the very last Southern men to declare his love 
and devotion to the Union. 

In the battle of Newbern, N. C, in 1S62, Colonel 
Vance was conspicuous for courage and coolness, and 
received the highest commendation for his soldierly con- 
duct on that field. In August of that year he was elected 
governor of the State, and received the almost unanimous 
vote of the soldiers. In 1864 he was reelected governor by 
a very large majority, and held the executive office until 
the occupation of Raleigh by General Sherman in April, 
1865. 

As the executive of North Carolina his administration 
was signally distinguished by great ability, vigor, and 
energy, by ardent and constant fidelity to the Southern 



24 Address of Mr. Ransom of NoriJi Carolina. 

cause, and by wise foresight and prudent husbandry of all 
the resources of the State. He was in every sense gov- 
ernor of the State. From the day on which he entered 
upon the duties of the office until the hour when he laid 
it down his commanding genius asserted his competence 
for the great responsibilities of the position, and his admin- 
istration deserved and received the unbounded confidence, 
support, and approbation of all the patriotic people of 
North Carolina. He called to his councils the wisest, the 
best, the most trusted men in the State of all shades of 
patriotic sentiment. He inspired the people with renewed 
love for the struggle, he united the discordant elements 
among us, he animated the despondent, he tolerated the 
conscientious lovers of peace, the rebuked the timid, he 
brought back to life the spirit of our Revolutionary patriots. 
He gave new hope to the army, he aroused the pride of the 
State, he strengthened all its means, and prepared for war 
to the end. Well may he have been designated as the 
"great war governor of the South." 

Three acts of his administration are justly entitled to be 
ranked as historic. 

First. The organization of a fleet of vessels to sail from 
Wilmington, N. C, to Europe with cargoes of cotton and 
return with supplies for the soldiers and essential necessa- 
ries for the people. This supreme enterprise was eminently 
successful. For months and years the Advance and other 
vessels, commanded by skillful officers, well manned, and 
adequately equipped, went like sea birds across the ocean 
to Europe laden with the great staples of the South, and 
returning with stores of the needed supplies, triumphantly 
eluded the blockading squadron and sailed with colors 



Life and Character of Zebitlon Baird Vance. 25 

flying up the Cape Fear to Wilmington. The soldiers were 
clothed and fed ; cards and spinning wheels, sewing and knit- 
ting needles, were furnished to our noble women ; machinery 
for looms, surgical instruments, medicines, books, and seeds 
were all brought home to a suffering people. The history 
of the war does not present an example of greater wisdom 
and success. 

Second. In 1864 and 1865, when the resources of the 
South were absolutely exhausted; when our noble armies 
were reduced and hemmed in on every side, razeed, 
hungry, and almost without ammunition; when starva- 
tion and famine confronted every threshold in the South 
and a morsel of bread was the daily subsistence of a 
family ; in that dark and dreadful hour Governor Vance 
first appealed to the government at Richmond, and find- 
ing it perfectly helpless to give any relief summoned his 
council of State and by almost superhuman efforts pre- 
vailed upon the destitute people of North Carolina to 
divide their last meal and their pitiful clothing with the 
sufiering Union prisoners at Salisbury. Humanity, Chiv- 
alry, Piety, I invoke from you a purer, better, holier example 
of Christian charity in war! 

Third. During his administration as governor in North 
Carolina, although war was flagrant, though camps covered 
the fields, though soldiers were conscripted by thousands, 
though cold-hearted men of ample means refused supplies 
to soldiers with bleeding feet, though the whole militia was 
armed, though thousands of deserters, refugees from dut}', 
were arrested, though the war department daily called for 
more men, though every art and artifice and device was prac- 
ticed to keep the soldiers from the field, though spies and 



26 Address of Mr. Ransom of North Carolina. 

traitors were detected and seized, though traders in contra- 
band of war were constantly caught flagrante delicto and 
captured, though in all countries in time of war civil au- 
thority has been compelled to submit to military necessity 
and power, yet in North Carolina during the war the writ 
of habeas corpus, the great writ of liberty, was never for 
one moment suspended. Immortal history ! Worthy of, 
Mecklenburg and the 20th of May, 1775. 

In 1876 Governor Vance was for the third time elected 
governor of the State, and his administration was the be- 
ginning of a new era for North Carolina. During this 
administration the fraiidulent bonds issued by a reconstruc- 
tion legislature were made null and void by constitutional 
amendment. The debt of the State was adjusted on terms 
of equity and justice. Important railroad enterprises were 
revived and new internal improvements organized and 
begun. The public schools were extended, enlarged, and 
improved. Education was provided for the colored people; 
asyluyis for their insane, their deaf, dumb, and blind were 
established. A great duty nobly performed! 

It was at this period that the legislature established the 
county of Vance and named it in honor of him, which fact 
contributed largely to the popularity of the measure cre- 
ating the county. 

In 1878 he was elected to the Senate, and until he died 
remained a member of this body, having been elected four 
times a Senator. His record in the Senate is part of the 
nation's history. From the beginning he was an active, 
earnest debater, a constant, faithful worker, a dutiful, de- 
voted Senator, aspiring and laboring fur the welfare and 
honor of the whole country. He was at all times on the 



Life and Character of Zebiiloji Baird ]\^7ice. 27 

important committees of the body, and took a prominent 
part in the discnssion of ahnost every leading question. 
He was the unceasing advocate of revenue reform, uncom- 
promisingly opposed to civil service, and the ardent friend 
of silver money and its free coinage by the Government. 
He vigilantly defended the rights, honor, and interests of 
the Southern States, not from sectional passion or preju- 
dice, but because it was his duty as a patriot to every State 
and to the Union. He was bold, brave, open, candid, 
and without reserve. He desired all the world to know 
his opinions and positions and never hesitated to avow 
them. 

His heart every moment was in North Carolina. His 
devotion to the State and people was unbounded; his solici- 
tude for her welfare, his deep anxiety in all that concerned 
her, and his ever readiness to make every sacrifice in her 
behalf was daily manifested in all his words and actions. 
Senator Vance was an uncommon orator. He spoke with 
great power. His style was brief, clear, and strong. His 
statements were accurate and definite, his arguments com- 
pact and forcible, his illustrations unsurpassed in their 
fitness. His wit and humor were the ever-waiting and 
ready handmaids to his reasoning, and always subordinated 
to the higher purpose of his speech. They were torch- 
bearers, ever bringing fresh light. He always instructed, 
always interested, always entertained, and never wearied 
or fatigued an audience, and knew when to conclude. 
The Senate always heard him with pleasure, and the 
occupants of the galleries hung upon his lips, and with 
bended bodies and outstretched necks would catch his every 
word as it fell. 



28 Address of Mr. Ransom of NortJi Carolina. 

He rarely if ever spoke without bringing down applause. 
His wit was as inexhaustible as it was exquisite. His 
humor was overflowing, fresh, sparkling like bubbling drops 
of wine in a goblet; but he husbanded these rare resources 
of speech with admirable skill, and never displayed them 
for ostentation. They were weapons of offense and de- 
fense, and were always kept sharp and bright and ready 
for use. He was master of irony and sarcasm, but there 
was no malice, no hatred in his swift and true arrows. 
Mortal wounds were often given, but the shafts were never 
poisoned. It was the strength of the bow and the skill of 
the archer that sent the steel through the heart of its vic- 
tim. But strength, force, clearness, brevity, honesty of con- 
viction, truth, passion, good judgment, were the qualities 
that made his speech powerful and effective. 

He believed what he said. He knew it was true; he felt 
its force himself; his heart was in his words; he was ready 
to put place, honor, life itself, upon the issue. This was 
the secret of his popularity, fame, and success as a speaker. 
He studied his speeches with the greatest care, deliberated, 
meditated upon them constantly, arranged the order of his 
topics with consummate discretion, introduced authorities 
from history, and very often from sacred history, presented 
some popular faith as an anchor to his ship, and concluded 
with a sincere appeal to the patriotic impulses of the 
people. No speaker ever resorted to the bayonet more 
frequently. 

He did not skirmish; he marched into the battle, 
charged the center of the lines, and never failed to draw 
the blood of the enemy. Sometimes he was supreme in 
manner, in words, in thought, in pathos. He possessed 



Life and Character of Zcbnlon Baird I 'ance. 29 

the thunderbolts, but, like Jove, he never trifled with them; 
he only invoked them when gigantic perils confronted his 
cause. In 1876, upon his third nomination for gover- 
nor, speaking to an immense audience in the State-house 
Square at Raleigh, he held up both hands in the light 
of the sun and with solemn invocation to Almighty God 
declared that they were white and stainless, that not one 
cent of corrupt money had ever touched their palms. The 
effect was electric; the statement was conviction and con- 
clusion. The argument was unanswerable. It was great 
nature's action. It was eloquence. It was truth. 

Senator Vance's integrity and uprightness in public and 
in private life were absolute; they were unimpeached and 
unimpeachable; he was honest; it is the priceless inheri- 
tance which he leaves to his family, his friends, his country. 
He was an honest man. Calumny fell harmless at his feet, 
the light dissipated every cloud and he lived continually 
in its broad rays; his breastplate, his shield, his armor was 
the light, the truth. There was no darkness, no mystery, 
no shadow upon his bright standard. 

vSenators will all remember the loss of his eye in the win- 
ter of 1889. How touching it was — a sacrifice, an offering 
on the altar of his country. For no victim was ever 
more tightly bound to the stake than he was to his duty 
here. How bravely, how patiently, how cheerfully, how 
manfully he bore the dreadful loss! But the light, the 
glorious light of a warm heart, a noble nature, a good con- 
science, an innocent memory was never obscured to him. 
It was to him a great bereavement, but it was another, a 
more sacred tie that again and again bound his country- 
men to him. 



30 Address of Mr. Ransom of NortJi Carolina. 

In his long and tedious illness no complaint, no mur- 
murs escaped his calm and cheerful lips. He was com- 
posed, firm, brave, constant, hopeful to the last. His love 
of country was unabated, his friendships vinchanged, his 
devotion to duty unrelaxed. His philosophy was serene, 
his brow was cloudless, his spirit, his temper, his great 
mind, all were superior to his sufferings. 

His great soul illuminated the physical wreck and ruin 
around it and shone out with clearer luster amid disease 
and decay. Truly he was a most wonderful man. His 
last thoughts, his dying words, his expiring prayers were 
for his country, for liberty and the people, h^ great patriot, 
a noble citizen, a good man, it is impossible not to remem- 
ber, to admire, to love him. 

I can not compare Senator Vance with Caesar, Napo- 
leon, or Washington. I can not place him at the side of 
Webster, Clay, and Calhoun. I do not measure him with 
Chatham and Gladstone. He was not a philosopher like 
Franklin, he was not an orator like Mirabeau, but placed 
in any company of English or American statesmen he 
would have taken high position. 

He had not the wisdom and virtue of Macon; he was 
not like Badger, a master of argument; he was not like 
Graham, a model of dignity and learning; he had not the 
superb speech and grand passion of Mangum; he wanted 
the tenacious and inexorable logic of Bragg; but in all 
the endowments, qualities, faculties, and attainments that 
make up the orator and the statesman he was the equal of 
either. No man among the living or the dead has ever 
so possessed and held the hearts of North Carolina's peo- 
ple. In their confidence, their affection, their devotion, and 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird I'ance. 31 

their gratitude he stood unapproachable — without a peer. 
When he spoke to them they listened to him with faith, 
with admiration, with rapture and exultant joy. His name 
was ever upon their lips. His pictures were in almost 
e\'ery household. Their children by hundreds bore his 
beloved name, and his words of wit and wisdom were re- 
peated by every tongue. 

What Tell was to Switzerland, what Bruce was to Scot- 
land, what William of Orange was to Holland, I had al- 
most said what ]Moses was to Israel, Vance was to North 
Carolina. I can give you but a faint idea of the deep, 
fervid, exalted sentiment which our people cherished for 
their greatest tribune. He was of them. He was one of 
them. He was with them. His thoughts, his feelings, his 
words were theirs. He was their shepherd, their champion, 
their friend, their guide, blood of their blood, great, good, 
noble, true, human like they were in all respects, no bet- 
ter, but wiser, abler, with higher knowledge and profounder 
learning. 

Nor was this unsurpassed devotion unreasonable or 
without just foundation. For more than the third of a 
century, for upward of thirty years, in peace and in war, 
in prosperity and in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, he 
had stood by them like a brother — a defender, a preserver, 
a deliverer. He was their martyr and had suffered for 
their acts. He was their shield and had protected them 
from evil and from peril. He had been wnth them — he 
had been with them and their sons and brothers on the 
march, by the camp fires, in the burning light of battle; 
beside the wounded and the dying; in their darkest hours, 
amid hunger and cold, and famine and pestilences, his 



32 Address of Air. j\aiiso))i of North Carolina. 

watchful care had brought them comfort and shelter and 
protection. They remembered the gray jackets, the warm 
blankets, the good shoes, the timely food, the blessed med- 
icines, which his sympathy and provision had brought 
them. In defeat, amid tumult, amid ruin, humiliation, 
and the loss of all they had, he had been their adviser; 
he had guided them through the wildernes.'; of their woes 
and brought them safely back to their rights and all 
their hopes. He had been to them like the north star to 
the storm-tossed and despairing mariner. He had been 
greater than Ulysses to the Greeks. He had preserved 
their priceless honor, had saved their homes, and was 
the defender of their liberties. He was their benefactor. 
Every object around them reminded them of his care, 
every memory recalled, every thought suggested, his use- 
fulness and their gratitude. The light from their school- 
houses spoke of his services to their education. The very 
sight of their graves brought back to their hearts his ten- 
der devotion to their sons. And the papers and the wires 
with the rising of almost every sun bore to their pure 
bosoms the news of his success, his triumphs, and his hon- 
ors. They were proud of him; they admired him — they 
loved him. These, these were the foundations, the solid 
foundations, of his place in their minds and in their hearts. 
From the wind-beaten and storm-bleached capes of Hat- 
teras to the dark blue mountain tops that divide North 
Carolina and Tennessee there is not a spot from which the 
name of Vance is not echoed with honor and love. But 
his influence and his fame were not confined within vState 
lines. 

In New England the sons of the brave Puritans ad- 
mired his love of liberty, his independence of thought, his 



Life and CJiaractcr of Zebulon Baird Vance. 33 

freedom of speech, his contempt for pretensions, and his 
abhorrence of deceit. The hardy miners in the far West 
and on the Pacific hills felt his friendship and were grate- 
ful for his services. Virginia loved him as the vindicator 
of her imperiled rights and honor. From the- farms and 
fields and firesides of the husbandmen of the Republic 
there came to him the greeting of friends, for he was 
always the advocate of low taxes and equal, rights and 
privileges to all men. From all the South he was looked 
upon as the representative of their sorrow and the example 
of their honor; and all over the civilized world the people 
of Israel — "the scattered nation '' — everywhere bowed with 
uncovered heads to the brave man who had rendered his 
noble testimony and a tribute to the virtues of their race. 
Even the officers, the sentinels, and watchmen over him in 
the Old Capitol Prison, in which he was confined on the 
alleged and wrongful charge that he had violated the laws 
of war, were spellbound by his genial spirit and became 
his devoted friends up to the hour of his death. His 
genius, his ability, his humanity, his long-continued pub- 
lic service, his great physical suffering, a martyrdom to his 
duty, the sorcery of his wit, the magic of his humor, and 
the courage of his convictions had attracted the universal 
sympathy and admiration of the American people. 

In the brief summary in the Directory is embraced a 
great life: County attorney, member of the State house of 
commons; Representative in two Congresses; captain and 
colonel in the Southern army; three times elected gov- 
ernor of his State, and four times elected to the Senate 
of the United States. What a record and what a combi- 
nation! A great statesman, a good soldier, a rare scholar, a 

S Mis 151 3 



34 Address of Mr. Ransom of North Carolina. 

successful lawyer, an orator of surpassing power and elo- 
quence, and a man popular and beloved as few men have 
ever been ! Great in peace and great in war, equal to every 
fortune, superior to adversity, and, greater still, superior to 
prosoerity! Successful in everything which he attempted, 
eminent in every field in which he appeared, and fitted for 
every effort which he undertook ! 

He was master of political science and distinguished in 
scholarship and literature. His political speeches were 
models of popular oratory and his literary addresses were 
compositions of chaste excellence. He wrote an electric 
editorial and drafted a legislative bill with equal clearness 
and brevity. His pen and his tongue were of equal qual- 
ity. He used both with equal power. He wrote much; 
he spoke more. Everything emanating from him wore 
his own likeness. He borrowed from no man. He imi- 
tated no man and no man could imitate him. He was 
unique, original, wonderful, incomprehensible unless he 
was a genius with faculties and powers of extraordinary 
and exceptional character. 

His temper was admirable, calm, well balanced, serene. 
He cared less for trifles than any man I ever knew. He 
brushed them away as a lion shakes the dust from his 
mane. In this respect he was a giant. He was like Sam- 
son breaking the frail withes that bound his limbs. He 
was never confused, rarely impatient, seldom nervous, and 
never weak. 

He was merciful in the extreme. Suffering touched him 
to the quick. He was compassion itself to distress. He 
was as tender as a gentle woman to the young, the weak, 
the feeble. He was full of charity to all men, charitable 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird l^ance. 35 

to human frailty in every shape and form and phase. He 
had deep, powerful impulses, strong and passionate resent- 
ments; in the heat of conflict he was inexorable, but his 
generosity, his magnanimity, his sense of justice were 
deeper and stronger and better than the few passing pas- 
sions of his proud nature. To his family and friends he 
was all tenderness and indulgence. His great heart always 
beat in duty, with sympathy, with the highest chivalry to 
woman. 

The man that lays his hand upon a woman, 
Save in the way of kindness, is a wretch, 
Whom 't were gross flattery to name a coward, 

was always upon his lips. 

He was ambitious, very ambitious; but with him ambi- 
tion was virtue. He aspired to be great that he might be 
useful, to do good, to improve and to benefit and to help 
mankind. His was not the ambition of pride and of arro- 
gance and of power. It was the ambition of benevolence 
and philanthropy, the ambition to elevate, to lift up, to 
bless humanit}-. 

From early manhood he had possessed a respectable com- 
petence. At no time did he ever suffer penury. He hus- 
banded with great care his resources and was prudent, 
frugal, thoughtful in his expenditures ; but he never turned 
a deaf ear to pity or to sorrow. He was not avaricious ; 
he had no love for money and was never rich in gold, sil- 
ver, and precious stones or lands, but he was opulent in 
the confidence and affections of the people. His great 
wealth was invested in the attachments, the friendships, the 
faith, the devotions of his fellow-men, that priceless wealth 
of love of the heart — of the soul — which no money can 
purchase. 



36 Address of Mr. Ransom of NortJi Carolina. 

In many respects he was very remarkable. In one he 
was singnlarly so. He never affected superiority to human 
frailty. He claimed no immunity from our imperfection. 
He realized that all of us were subject to the same con- 
ditions, and he regarded and practiced humility as a car- 
dinal virtue and duty. 

Senator Vance was happy in his married life. In his 
early manhood he was married to Miss Harriet Newell 
Espey, of North Carolina. She Vv^as a woman of high 
intellectual endowments, of uncommon moral force, of 
exemplary piety, and exercised a great influence for good 
over her devoted husband which lasted during his life. 
,Their union was blessed with four sons, who survived their 
parents. His second wife was Mrs. Florence Steele ]\Iar- 
tin, of Kentucky, a lady of brilliant intellect, of rare grace 
and refinement, who adorned his life and shed luster and 
joy on his home. 

All during the fatal malady that ended his life, with 
sleepless affection, with tireless tenderness, with holy duty, 

she was by him until the last breath came, and he expired 

in her arms, in the solace of her love. 

He loved the Bible as he loved no other book. All of 

his reverence was for his God. He lived a patriot and a 

philanthropist and he died a Christian. This is the sum of 

duty and honor. 

He has gone. His massive and majestic form, his full, 

flowing white locks, his playful, twinkling eye, his calm, 

homelike face, his indescribable voice, have left us forever. 

He still lives in our hearts. 

The great Mirabeau in his dying moments asked for 

music and for flowers and for perfumes to cheer and 



Life and Character of Zebnlon Baird Wince. 37 

brighten his mortal eclipse. Vance died blessed with the 
fragrance of sweetest affections, consecrated by the holiest 
love, embalmed in the tears and sorrows of a noble people. 
The last sounds that struck his ear were the echoes of 
their applause and gratitude, and his eyes closed with the 
light of Christian promise beaming upon his soul. 

On the night of the i6th of April last we took his cas- 
ket from these walls. We bore it across the Potomac — 
through the bosom of Virginia, close by the grave of 
Washington, almost in sight of the tombs of Jefferson and 
Madison, over the James, over the North and the South 
Roanoke, over the unknown border line of the sister 
States — to the sad heart of his mother State. The night 
was beautiful. The white stars shed their hallowed radi- 
ance upon earth and sky. The serenity was lovely. The 
whole heavens almost seemed a happy reunion of the con- 
stellations. With the first light of day the people, singly, 
in groups, in com.panies, in crowds, in multitudes, met 
us everywhere along the way — both sexes — all ages — all 
races — all classes and conditions. Their sorrow was like 
the gathering clouds in morning, ready to drop every 
moment in showers. 

We carried him to the Statehouse in Raleigh, the scene 
of his greatest trials and grandest triumphs; the heart of 
the State melted over her dead son. Her brightest jewel 
had been taken away! We left Raleigh in the evening, 
and passing over the Neuse, over the Yadkin, over the 
Catawba, up to the summit of the Blue Ridge, we placed 
the urn with its noble dust on the brow of his own moun- 
tain, the mountain he loved so well. There he sleeps in 
peace and honor. On that exalted spot the willow and the 



38 Address of Mr. Ransom of North Carolifia. 

cypress, emblems of sorrow and mourning, can not grow, 
but the bay and the laurel, the trees of fame, will there 
flourish and bloom in perpetual beauty and gl9ry. There 
will his great spirit, like an eternal sentinel of liberty and 
truth, keep watch over his people. 

Senators, I feel how unable I have been to perform this 
sacred duty. It would have been one of the supreme joys 
of my life to have done justice to the life and character of 
this great and good man, to have enshrined his memory in 
eloquence like his own. But whatever may have been the 
faults of these words, I have spoken from a heart full of 
sorrow for his death and throbbing with admiration and 
pride for his virtues. 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 39 



ADDRESS OF MR. MORRILL. 
Mr. President: Our late associate here, Senator Vance, 
appears to have been, both early and late, a prime favorite 
of North Carolina. He was born there, and was early 
made an heir to honorable and lifelong fame. The same 
year of his admission to the bar, at the early age of 
twenty-two, he was elected county attorney. Two years 
later he was elected to the State house of commons, and 
then, when only one year past -the age of eligibility, he 
was promoted to the United States House of Representa-. 
fives, where he remained a member from 1857 to 1861. 

Then, starting as a captain in the military line of the 
rebellion, in three months he rose to the rank of colonel. 
But his State in 1862 more needed his services as a civil- 
ian, and he was elected at the age of thirty-two governor 
of the State. By reelection he held this office through 
all the stern vicissitudes of the rebellion. While a stanch 
supporter of the Confederacy, he yet had some State-rights 
differences with its President, but they were amicably 
adjusted. 

Rarely has any man so young been intrusted by the peo- 
ple of a great State and in a great crisis with the foremost 
official stations within their gift. 
But to them always — 

A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays 
And confident to-morrows — 

and he had their hearts. 



40 Address of Mr\ Morrill of I 'crmont. 

Largely home and self instructed, finely equipped with a 
full-chested physique and resonant voice, and with a genial 
overflow of mother wit, he early became a notable orator 
in all political campaigns; but it was his close touch and 
familiarity with the leading topics of the day, his fidelity 
to his convictions of duty, as well as respect for the senti- 
ments of his people, and his spotless personal reputation 
which made them grapple him to their souls "with hooks 
of steel." To whatever station called, so well pleased 
were his people that with one accord they asked to have 
him go up higher. 

When he was first elected to the House of Representa- 
tives in 1857 as a Whig, with South-American proclivities, 
I had been serving there first as a Whig with Republican 
proclivities, and if either of us then had much reverence 
for the Democratic party I must admit it was prudently dis- 
sembled. Young and brimful of humor, song, and story, 
he was highly esteemed by the members of all parties in 
the House, as he was here. In an era when our whole 
country appeared to be rumbling with invisible earth- 
quakes and hissing with the oratorical skyrockets of seces- 
sion he served for four years, or until 1861, and, so far as I 
remember, contributed nothing to our or to the national 
' ' unpleasantness. ' ' 

During his Senatorial service, from 1879, of fifteen years 
he was not a frequent debater, except on tariff and revenue 
questions, where he differed radically from such ancient 
Whig statesmen as Badger, Mangum, and Stanly, formerly 
representing the Old North State; but whenever he spoke 
he had no lack of hearers, and they were often rewarded 
by the originality of his remarks and by the witticisms 



Life and Character of Zebidon Baird Wince. 41 

interspersed, redolent of his native Buncombe County. So 
long as health permitted he was a regular attendant upon 
the meetings of the Senate Finance Committee, of which 
he was a valuable member. 

The large increase in the number of the members in 
both Houses of Congress has made obituary notices of such 
frequent occurrence that I fear the time occupied for the 
brief tributes here to our departed fellow-members is some- 
times granted with reluctance. I feel sure, however, that 
no one^'will begrudge the hour subtracted from legislative 
affairs and now given up to the memory of the most 
beloved man perhaps of his State associated with us here 
for many years, and one, however widely apart politically 
from some of us, for whom every Senator here to-day is a 
sincere mourner. 

I called upon him toward the end of his earthly career 
and found him bearing his bodily afflictions with cheerful 

fortitude. 

The loss to his State will be great, and to his family 
incomputable. Personally, I lament here to say, farewell, 
my time-honored friend! 



42 Address of Mr. Sherman of Ohio. 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Sherman. 

Mr. President: The frequent recurrence of scenes like 
this, when the Senate pauses in its important duties to note 
the death of one of its members, must impress us with 
the feeble tenure with which we hold both life and public 
honor. We recall our departed associate with kindness and 
charity. We bury in his grave all the differences of opin- 
ion, all party or sectional contentions, and think only of the 
good he has done, of the qualities of his head and heart 
which gained our affection or commanded our respect. 
It is in this spirit I wish to add a few words to the elo- 
quent eulogy of Governor Vance by his distinguished 
colleague. 

My first acquaintance with him was when he became a 
member of the House of Representatives of the Thirty-fifth 
Congress, having been elected to fill a vacancy caused by 
the election of Mr. Clingman to the Senate. He was about 
twenty-eight years old, large, handsome, and of pleasing 
address and manner. He called himself a Whig— a Henry 
Clay Whig— and supported the public policy of that emi- 
nent statesman. In this we were in hearty sympathy. We 
were thrown frequently into kindly association. We could 
agree on many questions of public policy, but we could not 
agree on the sectional question then arising like a threaten- 
ing cloud on the horizon. We were born in different lati- 
tudes, under the influence of different institutions, with firm 
convictions honestly entertained but diametrically opposite 
with respect to the institution of slavery. 



Life and Character of Zebu/on Baird Vance. 43 

This wide difference of opinion was chiefly 'sectional, 
and therefore more dangerous. This institution was a 
slumbering volcano anxiously perceived by the Tramers of 
our Constitution and carefully dealt with, in the hope that 
b>' the action of the several States African slavery would 
be gradually abolished as inconsistent with our free insti- 
tutions. This hope was delusive. Slavery at different 
periods of our history threatened our National Union, but 
happily this contention was wisely smothered by the com- 
promises of 1820 and 1850, though it only needed a torch to 
arouse it into activity. The repeal of the Missouri com- 
promise in 1854 was the cause, or, as some say, the pretext, 
of the violent destruction of parties and the civil war. 

Governor Vance entered Congress, in 1858, as a mem- 
ber of the American party, occupying a middle position 
between the Democratic and the Republican parties. He 
did not rush into the arena of debate, but his personal and 
social qualities, and especially his wit and humor, were 
well known, and gained him many friends. After a month 
or two he was drawn into a brief casual debate, and at once 
was recognized as a young man of marked ability. Later 
in the same session he made one speech defining his opin- 
ions on the leading questions of the day. From this time 
his ability as a debater was conceded. 

In the memorable Thirty-sixth Congress Governor 
Vance took a more active part. He still held his fellow- 
ship with the American party, but that party melted away 
under the influence of passing events. The struggle in 
Kansas, the formation of the Republican party, the break- 
ing up of the Charleston convention, the adoption of new 
dogmas for and against slavery— these and many other 



44 * Address of Jfr. Shennan of Ohio. 

events left, no room for parties except on sectional lines, 
and no choice of policy except disnnion with slaver\- per- 
petnated, or of union with slavery abolished. I criticise 
no man for his choice in that conflict. It was indeed an ir- 
repressible conflict, the seeds of which were planted before 
onr Union was founded. Governor Vance took sides with 
his people and I with mine. The result was in the dis- 
posal of the Almighty Ruler of the universe, who doeth 
all things well. I believe the time will come, if it has 
not already come, when the North and the South, the Con- 
federate and the Union soldier, and their descendants in 
far distant generations, will thankfully unite in piaise to 
God that our conflict ended with a restored and strength- 
ened Union. 

There can be no doubt that at the beginning of the civil 
war Governor Vance was conspicuous at home as well as 
here as an ardent, outspoken Union man, but he also loved 
his State and his people, among whom he had been born 
and bred, and when they were swept away bv the torrent 
of opinion in the belief that it was their duty to secede 
from the Union he went with them. The question, as it 
presented itself to his mind, was whether he should fight 
with his neighbors or against them. Of his decision in 
such a choice there could be no doubt. As a soldier and 
governor of North Carolina he did all he could to establish 
the Southern Confederacy, but when the events of the war 
led the Confederate authorities to trench upon what he con- 
sidered as the rights of his people he firmly insisted upon 
preserving those rights. 

Some years after the war closed he was elected to a 
seat in this body. I need not say to Senators that in the 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird I a nee. 45 

performance of his public duties and in his association with 
his fellow-Senators he was always a pleasant companion 
and a kind and indulgent friend. He carefully attended to 
public duties, took his full share in the debates, and con- 
tributed by his wisdom and counsel to many important 
public measures. 

The life of a man and a nation is like the current of a 
river, full of dangers, at times calm and slow and then 
rapid and turbulent. From the feeble spring of infancy to 
the resting place in the ocean or the grave, there are many 
trials, vicissitudes, storms, and trouble, as well as peace- 
ful and happy moments. Our enjoyment of life depends 
largely upon temperament. The obstructions in our way 
are mountains or molehills, according to the disposition of 
each individual. We create in a measure our own sun- 
shine and shadow. It has always seemed to me that the 
peculiar characteristics of Governor Vance were his happy 
temperament and hopeful view of life. He carried with 
him wherever he went cheerfulness and joy. The humor 
and pathos with which he illustrated an argument, the sin- 
cerity and moderation of his opinions, his fidelity to his 
friends, the apparent honesty of his convictions — these 
were the attributes of our departed friend. In his life 
among us in the Senate he was cheerful, kind, and consid- 
erate. He left no enemies here. He died assured of the 
affection of his family, the confidence of his constituents, 
the love and respect and honor of his associates in the 
Senate. 



46 Address of Mr. Bate of Temtessee. 



Address of Mr. Bate, 

Mr. PresidicnT: Between the spurs of the Bhie Ridge 
and its mountain-mother, the Alleghanies, a race of people 
from the Atlantic shore — whose lineage was Scotch-Irish 
and English, with a dash of Huguenot — had cut their way 
through a wilderness, with ax and rifle, and the Bible as 
their companion, and become in this Piedmont country 
lords of the forest and field. These adventurous pioneers, 
hardy and brave, found homes in this intermountain spot, 
and, observant of social, religious, and educational advan- 
tages, soon developed into the finest type of American 
manhood. 

It was there, among this God-fearing and country loving 
pioneer people, that Zebulon Baird Vance first saw the 
light of day. It was there, on the banks of the French 
Broad River — where, in their westward flow, its bright and 
rapid waters leap from rock to rock, as a silver arrow from 
the bowstring; there, where valley and mountain and bright 
waters meet and mingle within the same scope of vision, 
presenting scenery that makes romance of reality; it was 
there, in this temple of nature, among plain and patriotic 
people, unpretentious and true, and with home associations 
simple and sympathetic, gentle and genial, that Senator 
Vance, destined to become a factor in the political his- 
tory of our country, in his boyhood and manhood caught 
those true and manly inspirations that guided him in his 
noble and remarkable career throughout his useful and suc- 
cessful life. 



Life a)id Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 47 

His was an intellect of marked capacity, and of a rare 
order of completeness, pervaded and informed by all those 
moral perceptions which make so invariable an adjunct to 
the strongest understanding. His perception of truth was 
almost an instinct, and his love of it truly conscientious. 
His temper was admirable, and free from all vanity and 
jealousy. He was a cavalier in loftiness of thought and 
action, without a particle of cant or formality or pretense. 
He was a genuine, brave, strong man — a thorough gentle- 
man, who inspired the fullest confidence and the most cor- 
dial liking. Whatever display he made was in truest taste, 
simple, easy, and natural, without the tinsel of ambition or 
effort. He had the power, the morals, and the manners of 
the best models of x\merican statesmen. 

His advocacy of great principles and useful opinions was 
often expressed in this Senate with boldness of view, some- 
times with severity of remark, and often with beauty and 
vivacity of expression. Many of the highest prizes in the 
lottery of political life came within his grasp, and with 
the vivifying spirit of a laudable ambition he seized them 
and used them only for his country, his State, and her 
people. As Representative, governor, and Senator his in- 
tellect, zeal, labor, and love were freely expended for the 
honor, glory, and welfare of North Carolina and her 
people. 

There is a country accent — 

Says a philosopher — 

not in speech only, but in thought, conduct, character, and manner, which never 
forsakes a man — 

and never was that remark more strikingly illustrated than 
in the late Senator Vance. He was a North Carolinian 



48 Address of Mr. Bate of Tennessee. 

"intus et in cute;" every peculiarity of her people, the 
verv idiosyncrasies of her citizens, were discernible in his 
mental, moral, and political make-up. But every step of 
his ascending honors was taken with an eye single to her 
protection, defense, honor, and safety. Of his extraordi- 
nary aptitude for business at the proper time and in the 
proper way I need only recall the fact that as governor of 
North Carolina, during the darkest period of the late civil 
war, and when a depreciated currency had unsettled all 
values and disrupted all the machinery of trade, when 
commerce was blockaded and transportation impeded, he 
was able to maintain in more comfort and in greater effi- 
ciency the Confederate regiments of North Carolina than 
fell to the lot of those of other Southern States. 

There is a record of fifty-seven regiments, and there may 
be more, whose clothing, shoes, hats, blankets, and mus- 
kets were furnished and delivered through his tact, perse- 
verance, and energy. And those regiments, composed of 
men and officers from "the Old North State," attested his 
wise provision for their efficiency by as gallant a record as 
was made by any troops in either army, and whose valor 
our deceased friend made more efifecti\'e by his wise fore- 
sight and care for their health and comfort. 

Other countries, Mr. President, have had their civil wars, 
with which history deals according to the prejudices and 
politics of their historians, but now their people look back 
upon the past without animosity to either party. 

France had her great revolution, but the followers of the 
"crowned soldier of democracy," whether enlisted from 
Parisian Jacobins or Vendean monarchists, are remembered 
to-day only as the brave sons of France. 



Life and Character of Zcbulon Baird Tancc. 49 

The Roundhead and the Cavalier of England, whether 
in the ranks of Cromwell's Ironsides or charging with rash 
Rupert, are to-day bright jewels in the galaxy of England's 
gallant sons. 

In our civil war citizens of the same Commonwealth 
were impelled b>- that first and supreme necessity that is 
not chosen but chooses — which is paramount to all delib- 
eration and admits of no discussion and demands no evi- 
dence. They were forced into conflict by the operation of 
principles they did not originate and by circumstances 
over which they had no control. And now, since both 
sides from their respective standpoints believed they were 
in the right, let us, on occasions like this, in this national 
forum, common in representation of all sections and all 
parties, bring wreaths to the "bivouac of the dead" with- 
out stopping to discuss the resolutions of '98 or the condi- 
tions which the>- created, or the wisdom or folly which 
inspired on the other side the spirit of fanaticism. Be our 
politics what they may, let us all honor the brave and 
heroic sons of all the States, as models and exemplars of 
American character; and, since " grim-visaged war has 
smoothed his wrinkled front," let us honor those who 
were heroes in the strife with true American patriotism 
and pride. No man has been a member of the Senate since 
the war who was more consistent in that respect, more will- 
ing to remit the cause and conduct of the war to the ver- 
dict of unbiased and truthful history, or more disposed to 
•treasure the memor\- of the personal heroism of all Ameri- 
can soldiers, than our late associate. 

Mr. President, in the public life and services of our 
deceased friend we have ' ' the abstract and brief chronicle ' ' 
S Mis 151 4 



50 Address of Mr. Bate of Tennessee. 

of politics in the Soiithern States throughout the last 
thirty years. He was a party man in the highest meaning 
of that term; true and faithful to the Federal Union as he 
understood its obligations — interpreting the powers, limi- 
tations, and restrictions of its Constitution by the light of 
the precepts and principles of its framers, and with intense 
convictions that any wide departure from those canons of 
construction would inevitably lead to the destruction of 
our form of Federal Government. He felt that if we put 
out the light of the fathers we — 

Know not where is that Promethean heat 
That can its flame relume. 

His advent into politics was amid the throes and convul- 
sions of civil war, the closing exigencies of which shaped 
in our Southland the political course of Whigs and Demo- 
crats, with the stern hand of inexorable fate, to save the 
very form and substance of society and civilization. But, 
notwithstanding the intense strain that was upon him in 
those exciting and exacting years, he was at no time a 
violent or uncandid partisan, and never nursed those exag- 
gerations or that unfairness which too often influence 
political action; nor did the idea of personal animosity or 
ungenerous feeling toward a political opponent discolor his 
public life. 

Senator VancE was a man of such irresistible wit and 
humor that I may apply to him the language of another, 
and say: "This relieved the weary, calmed the resentful, 
and animated the drowsy ; this drew smiles even from such 
as were the object of it, and scattered flowers over a desert, 
and, like sunbeams sparkling on a lake, gave spirit and 
vivacity to the dullest and least interesting cause." It 



Life and Character of Zebidon Baird Vance. 51 

was often his pleasure to illustrate his arguments, or 
enliven his conversation, with the incidents and peculiari- 
ties of life in North Carolina; and his laughter-creating 
anecdotes, his quaint jokes, and funny stories will long 
remain in our memories as specimens of wit and humor, 
of broad and striking illustrations, and oftentimes of forci- 
ble argument, but always devoid of the sting of malice, or 
the point which wounded personal feeling. To a keen 
faculty of observation he added a swift dexterity of appli- 
cation which, with the sunny current of his humor and 
free and joyful sympathy, made him a truly robust man, in 
whom the harmonies and just play of all his faculties 
imparted a kind feeling toward all men. 

Glad light from within radiates outward, and enlightens and embellishes. 

He had a taking way on the hustings. His arguments 
consisted in a plain way of telling simple truths — illus- 
trated with anecdotes and brightened with ready wit. In 
his mode of speech he did not "beat about the bush," but 
advanced in direct line to the citadel, which he generally 
captured, to the discomfort of his adversaries. His easy, 
flowing, 'natural style of speech — ready and racy — ever 
gained applause from his people, which to him was as 
sweet incense on the altar of patriotism. Adulation, how- 
ever, did not spoil him — Vance was too big a man for 
that. As a strong, broad, and well-rounded man he re- 
ceived the plaudits of the multitude with proper grace, 
and instead of ' ' turning his head, ' ' they were incentives 
to higher emprise. 

The ' ' bonhomie ' ' was an active element in his nature, 
and always kept him in warmest touch with his friends 
and often drew the sting from his enemies. He was as 



52 Address of Mr. Bale of Tennessee. 

much the embodiment of the principles of Democracy as 
any man who has taken part in our political life for a quar- 
ter of a century, and was truly a Great Commoner. He 
never seemed more in his element than when engaged in 
a hot political canvass before his North Carolina constit- 
uency, in advocacy of their rights and interests, and the 
hotter and more stormy the canvass the better. Indeed he 
reveled in it, and was as much at home amid the clashing 
elements as the petrel in the storm ; and whenever the 
fight was on he was sure to be a factor, and in at the death. 
But to him, Mr. President, every political storm cloud had 
its bow of promise, and when the fury abated it left him 
in a serene atmosphere, well poised and contemplative, and 
ready to take advantage of the situation for the good of 
his people and party; and withal, he never sacrificed his 
convictions for mere temporary success. 

He was for the whole people, and served them faithfully. 
He knew no faction or clique and invoked no artificial aid, 
but when he asked office he went directly to the people 
and drank at the fountain. His strong personality warmed 
his constituents in a magnetic way, and they clung unto 
him. His native endowments and cultured knowledge of 
human nature kept him en rapport with the best citizen- 
ship and won a .sense of superiority without exciting jeal- 
ousy. Yet there was nothing in his nature or bearing that 
was not in accord with the humblest, and while he was easy 
and familiar with all classes, that familiarity never begot 
contempt, but inspired a genial feeling akin to brotherhood. 
These natural gifts, these persuasive characteristics, this 
graceful adaptability, easily made him a hero on the hust- 
ings, and the ballot box became his mascot. His practical 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird I'ance. 53 

utterances and homely yet happy illustrations became 
household words, and with the plain people he was Sir 
Oracle. 

For more than thirty years "Zee" Vance, as he was 
familiarly called, was the political idol of the people of 
North Carolina, and during any part of that time he might 
have truly said of them, "Sum fui pars," He rejoiced at 
their prosperity and mourned their misfortunes ; in their 
need he was a benefactor — in adversity their buhvark and 
strength. Whatever faults he had — and who has them 
not? — were open and bravely avowed — soon forgiven and 
forgotten. He felt that he owed a duty to his country 
and his fellow-man, and, Mr. President, without discount, 
he paid the debt. He learned and loved the teachings of 
the Bible, and was guided by his faith. His cheerfulness 
brightened his social relations ; his gentle domesticity 
made home happy ; his sterling virtues inspired respect 
and confidence while they imparted usefulness. 

He was a bon vivant without dissipation ; his hospitality 
was to him a luxury and to his guests a delight, and he, in 
turn, was "persona grata" in every household in the Old 
North State. 

Disease and misfortune did not unman him — and he 
often met it with grim humor. The loss of an eye a few 
years before his death did not discourage him, or abate his 
efforts to serve his constituents. Indeed, while sitting here 
at this desk next me — we were desk mates for the last 
three years — he, in a vein of pleasant humor, just before 
commencing his last great speech in this Chamber, allud- 
ing to the fact of having lost an eye, said : 

Misfortunes have their blessings, for surely no man can now deny that I have 
an eye sing/f to the interest of my constituents. 



54 Address of Mr. Bate of Tennessee. 

Disease and suffering did not appall him or drive from 
him hope and courage. He was cheerful and sometimes 
facetious, even when the ' ' sword of the spirit had well- 
nigh cut throucjh the scabbard of the flesh." He died at 
his post, and with dignity and calmness — 

Wrapt the drapery of liis couch about him, 
And lay down to pleasant tlreams. 

Upon the announcement of his death North Carolina 
became one vast "lodge of sorrow," in which every heart 
was muffled, and its sad beat was responsive to the melan- 
choly occasion. His biography, truthfully written, will be 
the sweetest aroma in the urn of North Carolina history. 

You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, 
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still. 



Life and Character of Zebnlon Baird I 'aiice. 55 



Address of Mr, Gray. 

Mr. President: The man whose loss we mourn to-day 
was no ordinary man, and the words of touching eulogy 
to which we have listened have set vibrating chords of 
sympathy and grief in a manner and to a degree not 
ordinary. How hard is it for each of us, even after this 
interval since his death, to realize that we shall see his face 
no more. 

Senator Vance had become, more than is usual, a part, 
an almost necessary part, it seemed, of our daily life here. 
In him the humanities were so active and so abundant that 
he seemed made to brighten social life and strengthen the 
social instinct. 

In this hour of sad retrospect his kindness of heart, his 
ready and responsive sympathy, his catholicity of spirit, 
his freedom from bigotry, envy, and all uncharitableness, 
are the qualities upon which we who knew and loved him 
fain would dwell to the exclusion of those attributes of 
intellect and character which excited our admiration and so 
distinguished his public career. And yet the "elements 
were so mixed in him" — his gentleness, his courage, his 
magnanimity, his robust manhood, his humor, and his re- 
markable intellectual gifts — that it is hard to analyze the 
man or consider him otherwise than he was, teres atque 
rotundus. 

His public life was a long and full one. It covered a 
period replete with interest to his State and country. 
Fearless in the expression of his mature convictions, he 



56 Address of Mr. Gray of Delaivarc. 

had an almost iinequaled power of impressing them on the 
Senate and the conntry. 

His eqnipment as an orator was strong and uniqne. 
Great qnickness of perception was nnited to great facility 
and felicity of speech. His mind was well disciplined 
and logical, and he maintained the pnrpose and continnity 
of his argnment with great ability and skill. But it was 
in what is called running debate that, it seemed to me, 
his greatest power was displayed. The quick play of his 
intellectual forces here made him preeminent. Sarcasm, 
repartee, humor, were all at instant command. Of these 
weapons he had always a quiver full, and woe to the 
antagonist who carelessly exposed himself to them. But 
this ready wit never left scars behind. 

He never made a brow look dark 
Nor caused a tear but when he died. 

Like lambent lightning, his wit was softly bright; it 
illuminated, but did not burn. 

There are few of us who can not recall the delight 
occasioned by its display, and how story, epigram, and 
apt illustration lighted up many a tedious discussion, his 
clearness of mental vision making many a crooked path 
straight. No debate was dull in which he engaged, and 
no one cared to leave this Chamber when VancE was on 
the floor. 

No one who heard the long debate on the tariff bill of 
1890 will ever forget the part which was taken in it by 
Senator Vance. 

As a member of the Finance Committee of this body he 
bore in large measure the burden of that memorable dis- 
cussion. The details of the bill were thoroughly mastered 
by him, and he devoted laborious days and nights to the 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird Vance. 57 

study of the complex and difficult questions involved in its 
consideration. He sacrificed his ease and comfort to the 
performance of his duty, and his unremitting devotion to 
the work before him through the long weeks and months 
of that spring and summer cost him the sight of an eye 
and greatly impaired his naturally strong constitution. 

It has been given to few men to carve for themselves so 
secure a niche in the temple of their country's fame. 

Senator Vance was thoroughly in touch with the plain 
people, as Lincoln loved to call them. He understood 
them, and was one in feelings and sympathy with them. 
He loved the folklore of the mountain districts of his own 
State, and dwelt with fond pleasure on the home-bred 
traits and fireside virtues of the people among whom he 
lived. 

And right royally did that generous people return his 
love. 

It was my sad privilege, Mr. President, to be one of the 
coitimittee that accompanied his remains to their last rest- 
ing place in the State he loved so well, and I was witness 
to the spontaneous expression of affectionate regard for his 
memory. 

The demonstration was confined to no class or color. 
Wherever we went rich and poor, white and black, alike 
seemed in their grief to have received that touch of nature 
which makes the whole world kin. 

And when we had performed the last melancholy offices 
for the dead, and left him in his grave on the moun- 
tain side, amid the beautiful scenery of the French Broad, 
we felt that no monumental marble would be necessary 
to preserve the rich heritage of the name and fame of 
Zebulon B. Vance to his State and country. 



58 Address of Mr. Blackburn of Ke}iti(cky. 



Address of Mr. Blackburn. 

Mr. Pre.sident: I have thought that it might be better 
that these ceremonies should be changed and that what- 
ever was to be said of the dead might be said at the time 
when the announcement of the death was made. 

If I had taken counsel of the love that I bore this man I 
would have come as others have, with a carefully arranged 
and prepared eulogy illustrating his virtues and his merits. 
But I have not. However, I listened to the address deliv- 
ered by his surviving colleague, and it went far to remove 
the prejudice that I hold against these ceremonials, for 
never in all my life did I hear the virtues, the merits, the 
worth of a man more eloquently portrayed, more fairly 
and truthfully put. 

I can not agree to let this occasion go by without at- 
testing at the expense of the time of the Senate for one 
minute the appreciation in which I held this man and the 
love that I cherished for him. His genial nature attracted 
everybody. There was a special reason for me to know 
him closely. The widow whom he left behind him is a 
cherished and petted daughter of my State. That natur- 
ally drew us together. I knew him for the last twenty 
years. I knew him by reputation before. Whether as sol- 
dier or as citizen, as member of the other House, as mem- 
ber of this Chamber, or as governor of his State in the 
stormiest day that this country ever knew, he loomed up 
always above the forms of those by whom he was sur- 
rounded. He was known as the great war governor of the 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird I ance. 59 

South, and ranked side by side with the great Curtin, of 
Pennsylvania, who represented the loyalty of the Union at 
that dark hour. 

This man's character, Mr. President, is best illustrated 
by an instance with which I became acquainted only 
within the last week, and but for which I would not have 
asked the indulgence of the Senate to attest my love to his 
memory. The General Commanding the Armies of this 
country told me less than a week ago that when the war 
ended he was left in command of the district of North 
Carolina. He received an order peremptory from the War 
Office here to arrest Governor Vance, to capture all his 
papers and correspondence and send them to the War 
Department. He said he knew full well that Vance was 
not seeking to flee the country or avoid arrest, but that he 
sent an officer up to his mountain home, with instructions 
to capture every paper that belonged to his official or his 
personal correspondence and bring them there; and the 
officer did. 

General Schofield sent Governor Vance with those pa- 
pers and records here to the then Secretary of War. We 
all remember that that was Pennsylvania's great war offi- 
cer, Stanton, whom some people thought was not mild, 
whom some thought was even savage; but who, in my 
judgment, in point of efficiency and ability was the great- 
est war minister that the earth has known since the days 
of the elder Carnot of France. General Schofield sent 
Governor Vance here, and among those records he sent 
the book which contained every particle of correspond- 
ence that Vance had ever held with the President of the 
dead Confederacy. All was open, and Stanton examined 



6o Address of Mr. Blackburn of Kentucky. 

it all. When he did, and saw what this man had done, 
how persistent his efforts had been to ameliorate the con- 
dition of Federal prisoners and to assnage the horrors of 
war, this great Secretary said to him, "Upon yonr record 
yon stand acquitted; you are at liberty to go where you 
will." 

Mr. President, may not we who knew this man so well 
and loved him so closely indulge the hope that another, 
a greater Judge, with ampler power, whose writs run 
throughout eternity as well as time, after examining the 
record of a life spent in the service of his fellows, reached 
the same conclusion and delivered the same verdict that 
Stanton did, and told our dead friend that "Upon your 
record you stand acquitted, and through all the shining 
realms of Paradise vou may o-o where von will." 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird I'ance. 6i 



Address of Mr, George. 

Mr. President: I willingly comply with the request of 
the senior Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Raxsom] to 
take part in these memorial services. 

My personal acquaintance with Senator Vance com- 
menced in 1 88 1, when I became a member of the Senate. 
He had then been a Senator for a time long enough to 
acquire a leadership on the Democratic side of this Cham- 
ber — a leadership which was every year more and more 
distinctly recognized until his death. 

From the very first I was attached to him, not more by 
his many high social qualities than by a conviction on my 
part of his great value as a statesman. Our association 
was such that it enables me to say with pride that we 
were friends. His powers of debate were remarkable and 
in many respects unrivaled. He possessed sound logic, 
which enabled him to solve the most difficult problems 
and to present his views on them with great clearness and 
force. He was gifted also with great humor, which he 
used in debate wnth effectiveness in illustrating his argu- 
ment. He used his great powers of wit and humor not 
as mere ornament to his discourse, but always as a sub- 
stantial aid to his argument. This gift was always made 
subordinate to, and a servant of, his powers of reasoning. 
He was one of the few men whom I have known who, 
being possessed of brilliant powers to please and attract 
by wit, humor, and anecdote, never succumbed to the 



62 Address of Mr. George of Mississippi. 

temptation to be amusing and agreeable at the expense of 
being instructive. 

In any legislative body in the world he would have been 
esteemed great. 

The moral side of Senator Vance was no less admirable. 
He was brave, generous, magnanimous, humane, tender, 
and, above all, honest; honest not only in his actions, but 
in his thoughts. He had his high ideal of the good, and 
lived up to it without deviation. His idea of honesty did 
not stop at fairness in dealings with others, but it com- 
pelled an adherence to fair dealing with himself, an honest 
and upright purpose in the ends he sought, either by pri- 
vate enterprise or public service. He had an ambition to 
serve in public life, but it was an ambition which found 
gratification only in rendering great public service. He 
loved the great mass of his countrymen; he sympathized 
in their struggles and in their aspirations. His ambition 
was to make these struggles easier, and to make these aspi- 
rations higher and nobler, and to secure to them as the end 
more happiness and greater advancement. 

In an age where the occasional demoralization of pub- 
lic men had cast suspicion upon high characters, not the 
slightest taint ever rested upon him. He was unspotted. 
He went through the fiery ordeal with no stain upon his 
garment. He had that high devotion to the people's rights 
and interests that he could not view public measures in any 
other aspect than as to their effect on the general welfare. 
He never considered them with reference to their effect 
on his own personal or political fortunes or for the purpose 
of advancing the interest of a few favorites of fortune or 
of government. 



Life and Character of Zebuion Baird Vance. 63 

In conclusion I feel warranted in saying that the sober 
verdict of history will assign to Senator Vance a very 
'high place in the first class of American statesmen, and 
that his death, at that stage of the development of his high 
powers when his greatness and usefulness were recognized 
by all, came too soon for the public good, and was a great 
national loss. 



64 Address of Mr. Call of Florida. 



Address cf Mr. Call, 

Mr. President: I served in the Senate during the en- 
tire term of service of the departed Senator, and I sat near 
him and in his immediate presence for many years. I 
knew him well, and admired him for his excellent fancy, 
his infinite wit and mirth, which staled not, neither grew 
weary, and for his great talents, his learning and accom- 
plishments, and more than all for the great, noble heart 
which was ever full of love and sympathy for all that was 
good and beautiful, and for devotion to right and duty 
and to the uplifting of the people into a brighter and hap- 
pier life. The common saying, "None knew him but to 
love him," had in him its full and truthful example and 
illustration. 

I leave to others more familiar with his life and services 
in his own State the record of his life there and the story 
of the love and devotion of the people of the State of 
North Carolina to him and their pride in his talents, his 
character, and his great and varied public services, and 
will confine my observations to the impression he made 
upon the Senate in debate and in the familiar intercourse 
of the cloakroom and of social life. We all knew that his 
was a mind of a high order, active, vigilant, investigat- 
ing, stored with facts acquired from constant reading and 
study, and a spirit pure and untarnished from the world's 
contact, but growing brighter, purer, and stronger by the 
exercise of the hiofhest virtues. 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird Vance. 65 

If wit and mirth and merriment with its genial atmos- 
phere always came from his presence and dissipated all 
sorrow and gloom, it did not obscure the light of his tal- 
ents and his learning, but gave the greater admiration of 
his varied gifts and made us all feel that tlie poet Byron's 
description of Sheridan, that nature made but one such 
man, was true of him, and that she had in Zebulon B. 
Vance given to the Senate and the country another Sheri- 
dan. Between these two men, both of whom are now 
historical, there was much resemblance in the nature of 
their talents and their qualities of heart and character, 
though differing widely in their habits of life. 

The luster of Sheridan's and Vance's names and charac- 
ters for wit and genius and great and varied gifts of mind 
and lovely emotions and sympathies still remains and sheds 
a light of joy and gladness upon our race and the spirit of 
our literature. 

In yon historic hall the memory and the traditions ot 
the genius and learning of the departed great men of our 
race are stored for our study, our instruction, our example, 
our delight, and our encouragement to renewed efforts to 
elevate our race, and to teach us that there is a life beyond 
for the spirit and its gifts, and for the character formed 
of such like efforts, emotions, and sympathies — a life of 
joy and brightness. 

To Senator Zebulon B. Vance belongs a higher trib- 
ute of praise than even our love and admiration can give 
liim. 

I have read somewhere a legend from the East, the 
land where we find traces of a civilization equal if not 
superior to our own, a civilization which has been lost and 
S Mis 151— 5 



66 Address of Mr. Call of Florida. 

forgotten, which perished without a history, and which is 
only known by tradition and the excavated remains of art 
and sculpture and the massive ruins of an architecture 
impossible to us. In this strange land of an ancient and 
ruined civilization and of the lost arts, which the great 
orator and philanthropist of Massachusetts, Wendell Phil- 
lips, in his orations on the lost arts describes — from this 
people, it is said, comes this tradition. 

An Eastern sage had passed his life in study and in 
devotion to the good of the people. After death he passed 
into the presence of the recording angel at the gates of 
Paradise. The angel, with the book of life open before 
him, said, "What hast thou done, O Abdul Kadiz, that 
thou shouldst be admitted within the gates of Paradise?" 
The sage replied, ''I have loved my fellow-men!" The 
angel said, "It is written in the great book of life, 'Abdul 
Kadiz; he loved his fellow-men.' Enter thou into the 
joys of Paradise;" and wide sprung open the golden 
gates. 

If this legend of the spirit land as it came from the for- 
gotten race, with all its perished life, be true, the spirit of 
our departed brother when he came into the presence of 
the angel with the great book of life, when asked, "What 
hast thou done to enter within the gates of Paradise?" 
said, "I have loved my fellow-men," and the angel with 
the book of life replied, "Thus it is written in the great 
book of life — thou hast loved th>- fellow-men; enter thou 
into the joys of Paradise." 

In the mysterious and never-ending procession of our 
race from infancy until it disappears in that future of 
which we know not, except in the faith of religion and 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird Vance. 67 

reason; in the midst of all its dark and cruel shades there 
has appeared in all its career a light of love and gentle- 
ness, of truth and self-sacrifice, which illumines its dark 
and bloody features, and lifts humanity into a happier and 
more beautiful life. For nearly two thousand years the 
God man, the Christ of our religion, has given to human- 
ity the example and the instruction cf this higher and 
better life. 

In His footsteps the noble army of martyrs, the seed of 
the Church, whose praise is ever chanted, have trodden ; 
and amongst the spirits whose life has been one of love 
for mankind, although not called to be a martyr, will be 
justly placed our departed brother, whose wit delighted, 
whose talents instructed, whose life encourages other men 
to enlist in the great work of making our race happier in 
their lives, and free it from the dominion of vice and want 
and cruelty. 

What nobler anthem than this can be sung over his 
departure from us ! What more comforting thou'ght can 
come to those who remain, to the lovely woman whose 
care and devotion brightened his life, stimulated his 
spirit, and encouraged him in thoughts of high accom- 
plishment, of high courage and constant labor for right 
and duty, and which cheered and softened the last hours 
of his life with us ! 

To Senator Vance we may truthfully apply the beau- 
tiful monody of Byron to Sheridan upon his departure 
from this life. 

They so resembled each other in their intellects, their 
emotions, their gifts, that the description of one applies to 
the other. 



68 Address of Mr. Call of Florida. 

A mighty Spirit is eclipsed — a Power 
Hath pass'd from day to darkness— to whose hour 
Of light no likeness is bequeath' d — no name. 
The Hash of Wit—the bright Intelligence, 
The beam of Song — the blaze of Eloquence, 
Set with their Sun. 

***** 
From the charm'd council to the festive beard, 
Of human feelings the unlxnmded lord; 

***** 
The gay creations of his spirit charm. 
The matchless dialogue — the deathless wit. 
Which knew not what it was to intermit. 

***** 
Ye Orators ! whom yet our councils yield. 
Mourn for the veteran Hero of your field ! 
Ye Bards ! to whom the Drama's Muse is dear. 
He was your master — emulate him Jiere. 
Ye Men of wit and social eloquence! 
He was your brother — bear his ashes hence 
While powers of mind almost of boundless range, 
Complete in kind — as various in their change, 
While Eloquence— Wit— Poesy— and Mirth, 

***** 
Survive within our souls — while lives our sense 
Of pride in Merit's proud preeminence. 
Long shall we seek his likeness — long in vain. 



Life and Character of Zebnlon Baird I ance. 69 



Address of Mr. Dubois. 

Mr. President: z'ebulon B. VAxNCE was born on the 
i3tli day of May, 1830, in Buncombe County, N. C. He 
was educated at Washington College, Tennessee, and the 
University of North Carolina. In January, 1852, he was 
admitted to the bar and was elected attorney for his native 
county in the same year. In 1854 he served as a member 
of the State house of commons of North Carolina, and was 
a Representative from North Carolina in the Thirty-fifth 
and Thirty-sixth Congresses. In May, 1861, he entered 
the Confederate army as a captain and was promoted to a 
colonelcy in August of the same year. He was elected 
governor of North Carolina in August, 1862, and was 
reelected in August, 1864. 

He was known as the war governor of his State, and dur- 
ing his administration the great writ of habeas corpus was 
never suspended. During his incumbency of the office of 
governor, and just at the -close of the war, his State was 
taken possession of by the Federal troops. He was cap- 
tured,, released on parole, and confined to Iredell County, 
N. C. In a short time thereafter he was again taken in 
charge by a company of United States troops at Statesville, 
N. C, and brought from there to the Old Capitol Prison, 
in Washington, where he was confined for about three 
months. 

In November, 1870, Governor Vance was elected to the 
United States Senate, but was unable to qualify because 
his political disabilities had not been removed. He 



yo Address of Mr. Dubois of Idaho. 

resigned his claim to a seat in the Senate in January, 1872. 
In the same year he was again the Democratic nominee for 
United States Senator, but was defeated by a combination 
of bolting Democrats and Republicans, who elected the 
late Judge Merrimon. In the mean time he practiced law 
in Charlotte, N. C, with the Hon. Clement Dowd, with 
whom he remained in partnership until 1876, when he was, 
for the third time, nominated for governor of his State 
and elected by a large majority— the Republicans, up to 
that time, having had control of the State government 
from the close of the war. On March 18, 1879, Senator 
Vance, having again been elected to the United States 
Senate— this time to succeed Senator Merrimon— took his 
seat in this Chamber and remained a member of this body 
until the day of his death, April 14, 1894. His term of 
service would not have expired until March 4, 1897. 

No man, I believe, has ever enjoyed to a greater extent 
the love and affection of the people of his State. It was 
genuine love and affection, and I was told that when the 
news of his death was announced many men and women, 
as well as children, all over his State, wept as if they had 
lost a near and dear relative as well as friend. He appre- 
ciated keenly the friendship of his people and the many 
honors they had conferred upon him, and was, in turn, 
their true, loyal, and devoted friend and champion to his 
last dying breath. No one of his constituents was too 
humble to be accorded an interview at any time, and to be 
rendered a service if it was in his power to aid or cheer 
them. 

The respect and devotion uniformly shown by the peo- 
ple at his funeral was such as is rarely, if ever, accorded 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird Vancc. 71 

to a public mail. Throngs of people lined the railroad 
track all the way from Raleigh to Asheville. The night 
before reaching Asheville was ideal, and peculiar to South- 
ern climes. The moon was shining full, the air was 
balmy, and most of us who composed the funeral escort 
sat up until long past midnight. In the early hours of the 
morning, as the train would whirl past a small station, 
hundreds of people could be seen standing on the banks 
near the track in solemn and reverent silence. They knew 
the train would not stop, yet they had traveled many miles 
in order to pay this last tribute of love to their departed 
leader and friend. All with whom I came in contact said 
that Senator Vance was regarded as a personal friend by 
everyone. 

I was particularly struck with a little incident that hap- 
pened as the funeral train wi s passing through Durham, 
N. C, where it stopped for a few moments, to allow the 
citizens to view the remains. The crowd was so great that 
it was with difficulty that people could reach the funeral 
car ; in fact, many were not able to get there at all, and 
among the latter was an old lady who was deeply disap- 
pointed at being prevented from taking a last look at her 
departed friend. She tried to console herself, however, by 
showing to the crowd a twenty-five cent and a ten-cent sil- 
ver piece which she had placed upon the track as the train 
ran into the station. They were completely flattened out, 
and she proposed to keep them as mementos. She said it 
was all the money she had on earth. 

Another touching incident occurred at Asheville, where 
he was buried. The surviving soldiers of his old company 
who went to the front with him when the late war broke 



72 Address of Mr. Dubois of Idaho. 

out attended the funeral in a body, or rather all of them 
who were able. There was one who lived many miles 
from the city, and who, on account of being a cripple from 
wounds received, could not go to the grave. At the hour 
for the last sad services to commence, however, he had 
himself carried to the little building not far awa}-, which 
served both as country schoolhouse and church, and there 
he solemnly tolled the bell as long as he thought the rites 
were continuing. 

Senator Vance could not bear unfriendly or strained 
relations with any of his colleagues, and always found a 
way to overcome them. It was my lot to run counter 
to him during my early life in Congress. He bitterly 
opposed the admission of Idaho to the Union, which I as 
the Delegate was urging, and made a speech full of sar- 
casm and ridicule adverse to our claims. His picture of 
our citizens was a most severe arraignment. After Idaho 
became a State, and my seat in the Senate was contested, 
Senator Vance took the side of my opponent and earnestly 
contended against the legality of my election. Several 
months after the contest had been decided in my favor, 
and when we were fighting on the same side in favor of 
silver, he came to my seat one day and said: "Dubois, 
I am willing to forgive you for everything I have done 
against you and Idaho." From that time until his death 
I had the honor and pleasure of his friendship and confi- 
dence. 

I believe that more than all else, if possible, he cherished 
and prided himself upon the confidence his people had in 
his integrity and honesty. He often spoke of it, and said 
they knew "his hands were clean," and if he had made 



Life and Character of Zebuloji Baird Vance. 73 

mistakes they were mistakes of judgment, and not made 
through dishonest motives. 

His sense of humor remained with him to the last. 
Twenty-four hours before he died he sent for his friend 
and colleague, Senator Blackburn. Orders had been given 
by his physician that he must not be excited by visitors. 
"Joe," said Vance, "they say I must not see anyone, but 
you won't hurt me, and you know I can't hurt you." In 
that interview, which he knew was his last, he cheered his 
friend with anecdotes and reminiscences, and sent kindly 
words to his colleagues whom he was leaving. 



74 Address of Air. Chandler of New Hampshire. 



Address of Mr. Chandler. 

Mr. President: The tributes of affection given to the 
memory of Senator Vanxe when, on the 17th of April last, 
we bore his remains to their last resting place, proved that 
he was universally beloved by the people of the State of 
North Carolina, without distinction of party "or of race. 
Wherever the train halted crowds of friendly sympathizers, 
with sad faces and kindly words, expressed their sense of 
their loss of their Senator, whom all seemed to have known 
as a friend, and whose fame all seemed to feel was a glory 
to them and their Commonwealth. 

South and east we went to Raleigh; all business was 
suspended and the whole region poured out its crowds to 
take a last look at the form of their great citizen, soldier, 
governor, and Senator, resting within the precincts of the 
State capitol. Not merely the governor and State officers, 
but all the people, old and young, men, women, and chil- 
dren, white and black, pressed through the portals to say 
farewell to him they loved as a public man has seldom 
been loved by those whom he has served. 

Then we went westward toward the mountain home of 
our departed friend. All the stations were thronged with 
eager yet gentle mourners. At Durham, most melodious 
voices, coming from men and women with black faces and 
toil-worn hands, sang with touching pathos, "Father, we 
rest in Thy love." At Greensboro the little station was 
crowded with citizens, and the old Twenty-sixth Regiment 



Life and Charactci^ of Zchnlon Baird Vance. 75 

Band of Salem-Winston, which had followed the fortunes 
of war with their chieftain, discoursed sacred music. 

At last, on the morning of the i8th, we reached the 
section where our friend was born. From the surround- 
ing towns to Asheville came delegations; from Charlotte, 
Hendersonville, Marion, Morganton, Winston, Salisbury, 
and others whose names have passed from me. In remoter 
places we learned that all labor had ceased; buildings were 
draped; flags were half-masted, and commemorative serv- 
ices were held. In Asheville the day was wholly given to 
the burial of their beloved dead. It seemed as if every res- 
ident came to see in death him whom they had known so 
well in life. Masons, Odd Fellows, State militia. Confed- 
erate veterans, local organizations of many names, were the 
escort to and from the church. The school children, in 
their beauty and freshness, lined the roadway; and after 
appropriate religious rites, in the beautiful cemetery at 
Riverside, on the slopes of the valley of the noble French 
Broad River — ashes to ashes, dust to dust — we committed 
to mother earth, from which it sprung, the lifeless body of 
him whose immortal soul had left its tenement of clay, and 
who, even as we stood there mourning, was walking with 
the angelic hosts in the streets of the New Jerusalem. 

Mr. President, almost unqualified praise may be spoken 
of the character of this son of North Carolina whom we 
now commemorate. Born among the mountains which 
are so surely the home of untamed freedom, he was self- 
reliant and independent. He was a strong man naturally 
and intellectually, and made himself a name and a fame as 
a lawyer, as an orator, and as a statesman which gave him 
a high place in the history of his State, and entitle him to 



76 Address of Mr. Chandler of New Hampshire. 

manifestations of respect and honor from this Senate and 
from tlie people of the United States. 

As a pnblic speaker to large audiences he stood among 
the ^foremost of his generation. He was gifted in that 
great essential of a popular orator, a vivid imagination, 
enabling him to freely illustrate his ideas and thus reit- 
erate them to his auditors with great effect. His accurate 
memory supplemented his imaginative powers, and with 
his fine person and pleasing voice he early became the lead- 
ing orator of his day in his State, and from the attract- 
iveness and power of his speeches, in every part of that 
widely extended Commonwealth, he came to be the most 
familiar figure to her citizens of all her prominent char- 
acters, admired, sought for, applauded, and beloved to a 
height of personal popularity seldom reached by a public 
man. 

For his many-sided and superior abilities he is remem- 
bered and mourned by his people. I love to think of him 
as a tender friend. Possessed of a keen sense of humor, 
without which life in this sad and mysterious state of 
existence would be worth so little, and with geniality of 
temper and manner, he was endeared to all his associates 
in this body. They were always glad when he appeared; 
they rejoiced in his companionship; his wit delighted 
them without inflicting pain, and they parted from him 
always with reluctance. I am thankful that I was allowed 
the privilege of assisting in bearing his mortal frame to its 
last resting place, and that I am now permitted to speak 
even feeble and inadequate words of praise and affection 
for the courteous gentleman, the good citizen, the faithful 
husband and father, the eloquent orator and accomplished 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird lance. 77 
Senator, above all, the gentle and loving friend, who has 
gone before ns to the spirit land. 

As we once more finally part in this world with or.e 
whose joyons presence lately filled onr sight and thoughts, 
whom we can still see with eyes of mental vision, we 
cling to faith in immortality. This life would be worth- 
less,'' and a mockery of human hope, if there were not a 
life beyond. Imperfection pervades every earthly posses- 
sion and achievement. We can not even make an effort 
to understand the purposes of the Maker of the universe if 
this life is the whole of human existence. We can not 
bring ourselves to believe in His goodness if the wrongs 
of this life are not to be made right in a future state. 
Without debating dogmas, we all hope, we all believe, 
that somehow, somewhere, sorrow and sighing shall flee 
away, all souls shall be saved, and .permanent happiness 
shall at last come to all the children of men. This faith, 
whether kept secret or admitted, I believe abides in the 
hearts of all. Mr. Fronde expresses what he says is a 
universal feeling: 

There seems, in the first place, to lie in all men, in proportion to the strength 
of their understanding, a conviction that there is in all human thmgs a real 
order and purpose, notwithstanding the chaos in which at times they seem to be 
involved Suffering scattered blindly without remedial purpose or retributive 
propriety good and evil distributed with the most absolute disregard of moral 
merit or 'demerit; enormous crimes perpetrated with impunity, or veiigeance 
when it comes falling not on the guilty, but the innocent, ^- * • these 
phenomena present, generation after generation, the same perplexing and even 
maddening features; and without an illogical but none the less a positive cer- 
• tainty that things are not as they seem; that, in spite of appearance, there is 
justice at the heart of them, and that, in the working out of the vast drama, jus- 
tice will assert somehow and somewhere its sovereign right and power, the 
better sort of persons would find existence altogether unendurable. 

The words of this great thinker and writer find an echo 
in every thoughtful human soul. But faith prevails and 



78 Address of Mr. Chandler of Nezv Hampshire. 

hope springs eternal in the human breast. There is an 
existence beyond the present life where all shall be made 
clear. We shall see as we are seen; we shall know even 
as we are known. 

]\Ir. Dickens made the poor idiotic Barnaby and the 
coarse, strong Hugh of the Maypole Inn hold conversa- 
tions about the wonders of the visible heavens; and they 
inquire of each other whence comes the light of the in- 
numerable stars that dot the skies. When they were both 
under sentence of death, and, just before the dawn of day, 
were led across the prison yard toward the place of exe- 
cution, Barnaby, looking upward toward the myriad lights 
of the night, exclaims — 

Hugh, we shall know what makes the stars shine, now. 

Our faith here to-day ought to exceed that of the poor 
simpleton created by the imagination of the novelist. 
Not only shall we know what makes the stars shine, but 
all the wonders of the vast universe shall be open to our 
search. Our homes shall be among the heavens; the 
problems that our burdened souls have studied so despair- 
ingly shall be happily solved, and we may even become 
participators in the knowledge and power of Him 

Whose power o'er moving worlds presides, 
Whose voice created and whose wisdom guides. 

To this felicity the friend we now with tenderness 
remember has already fully advanced. We would not, if 
we could, bring him back to earth, slowly and painfully 
to die again. We wait, reverently and hopefully, for the 
summons to us to join him in some star that is shining, 
from eternity to eternity, with unfading luster in God's 
illimitable wilderness of worlds. 



Lije and Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 79 



ADDRESS OF Mr. JARVIS, 
Mr President: I had not intended to speak on this oc- 
casion, for the distingnished dead of whose virtnes others 
have spoken so jnstly and so feelingly was to n,e n.ore 
like a brother than a friend. But in the last few honrs 
I have conclnded to speak, and I now ask to add th,s 
simple but sincere tribute to his memory. 

ZEBUWN BAIRD V.^NCE was born in Buncombe County, 
N C on the 13th day of May, 1830, of a parentage noble 
in all' the elements that go to make up useful, patriotic 
Atnerican citizens. His early life was spent on the farm 
and in those pursuits incident to the hon.e life of the 
conntr^• people of those davs. In his boyhood and early 
manhood he sought and received the educational advan- 
ta<.es of the country school, the village academy, and t,,e 
rin°iversity of his State. His first public service, I beheve, 
was as county solicitor, and he discharged the duties of the 
office with conspicuous ability for one so young ni years 
and in the experience of the law. . 

In 1854 he was elected to the house of commons, as the 
lower house of the legislature of North Carolina was then 
called, and in that body he soon developed the fact that 
he was a born leader of men. Upon the promotion of 
the Hon. Thomas L. Clingman to a seat in the Senate 
of the United States, Mr. Vance became a candidate to 
fill the vacancy in the National House of Representatives 
from the mountain district of North Carolina, and it was 
in this contest that his immense popularity and strength 



8o Address of Ah: Jarvis of NortJi Carolina. 

with the people were first developed. That district had 
been long represented by j\Ir. Clingman, who was one of 
the leading Democrats of the House, and upon his promo- 
tion to the Senate the Democrats selected a strong man as 
a candidate to fill the vacancy. 

Mr. Vance, then full of humor, life, hope, and youth- 
ful enthusiasm, entered the race against the Democratic 
candidate and was triumphantly elected. At the succeed- 
ing election for members of the House of Representatives 
the Democrats nominated another strong man and made a 
heroic effort to redeem the district, but Vance was again 
triumphantly elected. The promise of his brilliant career 
in the House of Representatives was cut short by the out- 
break of hostilities between the two sections of his coun- 
try. Up to this time he had been an ardent Union man, 
but when the time came when it was manifest to him that 
he must fight with or against his own people he threw 
himself on the side of the South with all the energy for 
which his ardent nature was so distinguished. He entered 
the military service of his State and then of the Confeder- 
acy, and soon became colonel of a regiment. But of his 
military record I shall not speak now, as I have done that 
before another audience in this city. 

In 1862 he was called by the soldiers and citizens of 
North Carolina from the camp and the field to the respon- 
sible office of governor of his State in a time of war and 
great anxiety, to which office he was again elected in 1864. 
In this great office he exhibited executive capacit)' of a 
high order. He did more. He showed himself to be the 
friend of the people. Although the coast of North Caro- 
lina was blockaded and every port of entry not actually in 



Life and Character of Zebu Ion Baird J 'a nee. 8r 

the possession of the Union forces was closely watched by 
Federal gunboats and ships of war, Governor Vance man- 
aged to purchase in Europe for his State a swift-running 
passenger steamer, which he caused to be converted into a 
blockade runner, and with this ship running in and out at 
Wilmington, taking out cotton, tobacco, and the like, and 
bringing in army, family, and hospital supplies, he cared 
for the North Carolina soldiers in the field and their fami- 
lies at home in a manner that won for him a high reputa- 
tion as a governor and the lasting gratitude and loyalty of 
the soldiers and people of his State. 

God in His wisdom decreed that this great country 
should be one. In its creation He made no great rivers or 
chains of mountains running East or West, forming a nat- 
ural division, and the heroism of the Lees and Jacksons, 
and the Johnstons and Vances, and Gordons and Ransoms, 
and the patient endurance of the soldiers who followed the 
fiery cross could not make an artificial division and over- 
turn the decrees of Him who doeth all things well. The 
end came, and with it a return of the soldiers to their 
wasted fields and desolate homes. But they commenced 
the work of rebuilding with the same heroic fortitude with 
which they had followed the flag of the Confederacy in 
camp and field. 

Vance was arrested, imprisoned in the Old Capitol at 
Washington, but was released after some months, and then 
he, too, addressed himself to the great work of bringing 
order out of chaos and prosperity out of poverty. Before 
much had been done in that direction his State passed 
through the bitter days and years of reconstruction, in 
which he stood all the time for law and order and good 
S Mis 151 6 



82 Address of Mr. Jarvis of North Carolina. 

government. In the election of 1870 the Democrats car- 
ried the legislature of his State, and when that body con- 
vened Vance was elected to the United States Senate, but 
the Senate declined to remove his disabilities or to admit 
him to his seat in that body. 

It was upon his return trip home after his futile effort to 
get his disabilities removed that he is said to have made 
the humorous but pointed reply to the two clergymen 
who, sitting in the seat in front of him, were engaged in a 
heated discussion of the doctrine of election. They were 
not able to agree, and seeing that the gentleman behind 
them seemed to be much interested in the discussion they 
appealed to him for his opinion. To their inquiry he 
promptly replied : "My experience is that the election is 
not worth much if your disabilities are not removed." 

The Republicans had held the executive and judicial 
departments of the State government of North Carolina 
from July, 1868, to 1876, and they did not intend to sur- 
render these departments without a stubborn fight. They 
nominated the Hon. Thomas Settle, their ablest man, for 
governor, to lead their forces in the great campaign of 
1876, and the Democrats nominated the idol of the peo- 
ple, Hon. Zebulon B. V.\nce, to lead them. These two 
giants, the idols of their respective parties, agreed upon 
and conducted a joint canvass of the State, and for three 
months they addressed in joint debate the greatest polit- 
ical assemblages ever seen in North Carolina. 

Thousands flocked to hear them ever>- day. Great cav- 
alcades met them on the highway and escorted them to 
the places of speaking. It was by far the most wonder- 
ful political campaign ever seen in the State, and Vance 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird I a nee. 83 

created such enthusiasm among his followers that he was 
swept into office by a majority of more than 13,000. He 
was inaugurated governor of his State for the third time 
on the ist of January, 1877, but he only served out half 
of his term of four years. Being elected to the United 
States Senate in January, 1879, he resigned the office of 
governor to accept a seat in the Senate, and his successor 
in the governor's office was inaugurated on the 5th day 
of February, 1879. The reforms and plans which he 
inaugurated during his two years of service as governor 
for the development and upbuilding of his State were 
pursued and carried out by his successor in office to the 
great advantage of the people and the public interest. 

He was reelected Senator in 1885 and again in 1891. 
Of his service in the Senate, of which the people of his 
State are justly proud, I shall not speak. His colleagues 
who served with him have lovingly done this. Thus we 
see that he was twice elected to the lower House of Con- 
gress, three times governor of his State, and four times 
to the United States Senate. In these particulars, taken 
together, he had an indorsement by the people of his State 
never given to any other North Carolinian. 

.Mr. President, I have thus far spoken of the public 
services of this truly great man. I now beg to detain the 
Senate a moment with a few observations on some of his 
characteristics. He was an intellectual giant, and could 
have easily been in the foremost rank of any department of 
life to which he devoted his time and attention. He gave 
his life to the public service and to the people. His success 
was their success; his glory, their glory. They shared 
in all his trials and all his triumphs. No man in public 



84 Address of Mr. Jarvis of North Carolina. 

life ever stood more steadfastly by the people and for the 
people than did Zebulon B. Vance. 

In his political creed he was both a republican and a 
democrat in the broadest and best sense of these terms. 
He was a republican in that he believed in a republic. 
He was a democrat in that he believed in the people 
ruling that republic. Mr. President, our impressions of 
objects and men are often colored, if not controlled, by the 
point of view from which we see or contemplate them. So 
our conclusions are often biased, if not actually formed, by 
the standpoint from which we approach the study of great 
public questions. Vance always approached the study of 
these questions from a safe and right standpoint, and he 
always reached correct conclusions. 

His starting point was plain and simple, but sure and 
safe. It was from the standpoint of the people's interest. 
He argued this is the people's Government. They are the 
sovereigns, and those chosen to make or administer the law 
are their servants. What is their interest in this matter? 
was his inquiry. That being determined, the way was 
easy and the path of duty plain. The people's good was 
what he always aimed at. No power on earth could turn 
him aside from that line of action. The people of his 
State knew and appreciated his devotion to them and they 
loved him for it. They were ever ready to follow where 
he led. His God was their God; his ballot, their ballot. 

Individual rights and the majesty of the civil law never 
had a warmer advocate or more steadfast friend in this 
country than this great tribune of the people. I doubt if 
there were many States in the Union or the Confederacy 
during the war in which the writ of habeas corpus, that 



Life and Character of Zcbulon Baird \'ancc. S5 

great writ of the people's rights, could at all times be 
promptly executed and obeyed. In most of the States 
I presume men were arrested, imprisoned, detained, and 
denied the benefits of this great writ, but it did not happen 
in North Carolina. 

Governor Vance, although ardently supporting the Con- 
federacy, stood by the writ, even in the face of the army 
itself, and upheld the majesty of the civil law. At no 
time in his whole public career was he ever known to 
consent to the surrender of or encroachment upon any of 
the individual rights of an American citizen, but he was 
ever ready with tongue and pen to defend them from any 
attack, no matter whence that attack came. He was. truly 
a student of the science of government, of politics, of the 
history of the rise and progress of states, nations, and peo- 
ples, and the more he learned and knew the more ardently 
attached he became to republican America and her demo- 
cratic institutions. It was here that the people had their 
greatest opportunities and their highest aspirations. It 
was his glory to stand by the people in all their struggles 
and aspirations for broader opportunities and a higher and 
better life. 

As a writer, a humorist, and an orator he was in the 
front rank of the foremost men of his day. But of these I 
shall not speak. That work will best be performed by his 
biographer. It was as a public servant and as a friend 
that I knew him best, and it is of these that I have pre- 
ferred to speak. Many circumstances brought us close 
together, and I may be pardoned for saying that it is prob- 
able that I had his confidence as fully and knew as much 
of his inward life and labors and thoughts in the interest 



86 Address of Mr. Jarvis of NortJi Carolina. 

of the people and the public service as any one of his 
closest friends. I think he has talked freely with me 
about every public question that has been of any concern 
to the people of North Carolina since the close of the war, 
and I desire here in my place in the Senate to say that I 
never heard him discuss one of these questions in his own 
interest. The only concern I ever knew him to have was 
how to solve them in the true and best interest of the 
people. He was always ready to assume any responsibility 
or to undergo any labor which, in his opinion, could serve 
the public interest. 

In that section of the State where he was born and 
where his body now rests there are many grand and lofty 
mountains standing upon their eternal base and lifting 
their heads into the very clouds. Some are three, some 
four, some five, and some are more than six thousand feet 
high. Any one of them serves as a guide to the traveler 
and impresses him with its grandeur and greatness. But 
there is one that towers high above them all. IMount 
Mitchell stands out boldly as the great center of attraction, 
and it is to this that people always turn when they wish 
to gaze upon the perfection and consummation of great 
mountain scenery in all its magnificence and sublimity. 

So in North Carolina we have had great men, any one 
of whom was and is an honor to the State, and of whom 
our people have been and still are justly proud; but it is 
no disparagement to those to say that Zebulon Baird 
Vance was the IMount Mitchell of all our great men, and 
that in the affections and love of the people he towered 
above them all. As ages to come will not be able to mar 
the grandeur and greatness of Mount ]\Iitchell, so they will 



Life and Character of Zebiilou Baird I 'ance. 87 

not be able to efface from the hearts and minds of the 
people the name and memory of their beloved Vance. 

In the days of his toil and labors, when fatigne and 
weariness came upon him, he was fond of retiring to his 
native mountains, and there, beneath their shadows, he 
found rest and restoration. When his life work was done 
it was meet and proper that his body should be laid to rest 
at the feet of these same mountains. Shall his body again 
be restored? Is death an eternal sleep, or is it rest to the 
body, which in God's own appointed time shall come forth 
again, restored and reunited with the immortal soul? 

This man was not too great to accept the teachings of 
the Christian religion. He believed in the immortality of 
the soul and in the resurrection of the body. He was a 
o-reat student of the Bible, and few were more conver- 
sant with the Scriptures than he was. He obeyed its pre- 
cepts and seized upon its promises. It was in this faith 
that he passed from time to eternity. And oh, Air. Presi- 
dent, what a comfort it is to know that our friends die in 
such a faith! How insignificant human greatness becomes 
in the presence of death or any great manifestations of 
divine power! 

iMan, isolated and alone, is but a tiny atom in the created 
universe. In the busy bustle of life, with his friends and 
fellows shouting his praise, man feels his importance and 
his power ; but let him stand out alone in the dread dark- 
ness of night, when the heavens are black and angry or 
when the earth quakes and trembles, and then how utterly 
helpless and dependent he becomes! It is in such times as 
these, as well as in the still more trying ordeal when he 
enters alone, as he must do, the dark valley and shadow of 



88 Add?-ess of Mr. Jarvis of Xorth Carolina. 

death, that man is reach- to acknowledge his nothingness 
and to crv ont to an invisible power for help. 

Oh, what a blessing it is in an hour like that to feel that 
He who created the worlds and controls all the forces of 
nature has us in His keeping, and, .like a loving father, 
doth care for us and guide us! Our dead friend had that 
blessing. While in the sunshine and vigor of life he com- 
plied with the conditions set out in the Bible upon which 
he could have the love and companionship of his Heavenly 
Father when the storm came and Death claimed him as his 
own. Shall we see him again? May God in His infinite 
mercy receive us with him into His Kingdom above. 

Mr. Ransom. Mr. President, I beg leave to state that 
it was the desire and purpose of the Senator from Connect- 
icut [Mr. Hawley] and the Senator from Virginia [Mr. 
Daniel] to speak in affectionate remembrance and honor 
of Senator Vance, but they were both called away un- 
avoidably and could not be here. 

:\Ir. Harris (Mr. Butler in the chair). As a further 
mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, T move 
that the Senate adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to ; and the Senate 
adjourned until Monday, January 2i,- 1895, at 12 o'clock m. 



Proceedings in the House, 

April i6, 1894. 
The House met at 12 o'clock m. The Chaplain, Rev. 
E. B. Bagby, made the following prayer: 

O Thou Great Disposer of all human events, with 
whom are the issues of life and death, bow down Thine 
ear and hear our supplications. We bring to Thee our 
hearts, tender with sympathy for the sorrows of those who 
mourn. How often of late, O Lord, have our ranks been 
broken, and men in high places of authority and dear to 
the hearts of the people have been called hence to give an 
account of their stewardship ; and Death, with equal foot- 
step, is knocking at the palace of the rich and the humble 
cot of the poor ; and so Thou art teaching us the shortness 
and uncertainty of human life. May we fix our affections 
upon things above and not upon things on the earth ; and 
as our bodies are frail and as our days are few may we live 
as if there were but a step between us and death. And 
when the end comes, O Lord, may we lie down in peace to 
sleep, and upon the morning of the resurrection may we 
awake in the light of Thy love and the joy of Thy pres- 
ence and live with Thee forever, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



* 
89 



go Proceedings in the House. 

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Piatt, one of its 
clerks, announced that the vSenate had passed the following 
resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with great sorrow of the death of the 
Hon. Zebulon B. Vance, late a Senator from the State of North Carolina. 

Resolved, That a committee of nine Senators be appointed by the Vice-Presi- 
dent to take order for superintending the funeral of Mr. Vance, which will take 
place to-day in the Senate Chamber, at 4 o'clock p. m., and that the Senate will 
attend the same. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect entertained by the Senate for his 
memory, his remains be removed from Washington to North Carolina in charge 
of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and attended by the committee, who shall have full 
power to carry this resolution into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these proceedings to the House of 
Representatives, and invite the House of Representatives to attend the funeral 
to-dav, Monday, at 4 o'clock p. m., and to appoint a committee to act with the 
committee of the Senate. 

The message also announced that in compliance with the 
foregoing the Vice-President had appointed as said com- 
mittee Mr. Ransom, Mr. George, Mr. Gray, Mr. Blackburn, 
Mr. Coke, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Dubois, Mr. White, and Mr. 
Manderson. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolutions of 
the Senate. 

The Clerk read the resolutions, as set forth in the above 
message. 

Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I offer 
the resolutions which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow the announcement 
of the death of Hon. Zebui.on Baird Vance, late a Senator from the State of 
North Carolina. 

Resolved, That the Speaker of the House appoint a committee of nine mem- 
bers, to act in conjunction with the committee appointed by the Senate, to make 
the necessary arrangements and to accompany the remains to the place of burial. 

Resolved, That the House accept the invitation of the Senate to attend the 
funeral this afternoon at 4 o'clock. 



Proceedings in the House. 9^ 

Resolved, That a recess be now taken until 3-45 P- >-., at which hour the 
House will proceed in a body to the Senate Chamber to attend the f---^' -^ J^ 
the conclusion thereof, on return to its Chamber, the Speaker, as a further mark 
of respect to the memory of the deceased, shall declare the House adjourned. 

ZL, That the Clerk of the House notify the Senate of the act.on of the 
House. 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH. 

Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Zeb- 
ULON Baird Vance, having finished his course on earth, 
now rests from his labors in a better world. After having 
done much good in his generation, he has been gathered 
unto his fathers, and his lot will no longer be cast m this 
vale of misery and tears. 

Mr. Speaker, Zebulon Baird Vance was a very great 
man, and was exceedingly beloved by the people of North 
Carolina, and the whole State, now in mourning for him, 
will long deeply and sincerely lament his loss. 

This is not the time, however, for commemorating the 
virtues and services of the departed. At some time in the 
future the House will be asked to set apart a day on which 
the friends of the deceased may pay proper tribute to his 
individual worth and to his long, faithful, and distin- 
guished public services. On this solemn and mournful 
occasion my heart overflows with kindly feeling and ten- 
derness for his bereaved widow and children, and for all 
who are near and dear to them. They are indeed desolate 
and oppressed. In this sad hour of their trial and afflic- 
tion they have the comforting and. heartfelt sympathy, not 
only of the people of North Carolina, but of the whole 

Union. 

Mr. Speaker, I move the adoption of the resolutions 

which have been read. 



92 Proceedings in tJic House. 

The resolutions were agreed to; and the Speaker ap- 
pointed as the committee on the part of the House ]\Ir. 
Henderson of North Carolina, Mr. Black of Illinois, Mr. 
Alexander, Mr. Brookshire, ]\Ir. Crawford, ]\Ir. Daniels, 
]\Ir. Strong, ]\Ir. Blair, and :\Ir. Houk. 

And then, in accordance with the terms of the resolu- 
tions, the House took a recess until 3.45 o'clock p. m. 

The recess having expired, the House, at 3 o'clock and 
45 minutes p. m., resumed its session. 

The Speaker. The House will now attend the funeral 
of the late Senator Vance in the Senate Chamber. 

The House then proceeded in a body to the Senate 
Chamber. At the conclusion of the funeral ceremonies 
the House returned. 

In accordance with the resolutions, and as a further 
mark of respect to the dead Senator, the Speaker declared 
the House adjourned. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

February 23, 1895. 
The Speaker. The Clerk will report the special order. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That Saturday, the 23d day of February next, beginning at 3 o'clock 
p. m., be set apart for eulogies on the life and services of the late Zebulon B. 
Vance, late a Senator from the State of North Carolina. 

Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I offer 
the resolutions which I send to the desk. 
The resolutions were read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended that opportunity 
may be given for tribute to the memory of Hon. Zebulon B. Vance, late a 
Senator from the State of North Carloina. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, and 
in recognition of his eminent ability and illustrious public services, the House, at 
the conclusion of these memorial services, shall adjourn. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of these resolutions to 
the family of the deceased. 

The resolutions were adopted. 

93 



94 Address of Mr. Henderson of Xorth Carolina. 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. 

Mr. Speaker: Zebulon Baird Vance was born in Bun- 
combe County, N. C, May 13, 1830, and died in the city 
of Washington, D. C, April 14, 1894, being almost sixty- 
four years old. He received a thorough English educa- 
tion. He first entered Washington College, Tennessee, 
and afterwards went to the University of North Carolina, 
where he remained one vear ; studied law, and was 
admitted to the bar in January, 1852, commencing the 
practice at Asheville, the county seat of his native county. 
In the same year he was elected county attorney of Bun- 
combe County ; was elected a member of the State house 
of commons in 1854 ; was elected a Representative to the 
Thirty-fifth Congress in 1858 as a State Rights American, 
succeeding to the vacancy created by the resignation of the 
Hon. Thomas L. Clingman upon the latter' s election to 
the United States Senate ; was also a Representative in the 
Thirty-sixth Congress. 

His service in Congress began December 7, 1858, and 
ended March 3, 1861. He entered the Confederate army as 
captain in May, 1861, and became colonel of the Twenty- 
sixth Regiment North Carolina Infantry in August, 1861. 
He was elected governor of North Carolina in August, 
1862, and reelected in August, 1864. At the close of the 
war he was arrested by a company of Federal troops 
and confined in the Old Capitol Prison for a few weeks. 
Shortly after the war he removed to Charlotte and entered 
upon the active practice of the law; was elected to the 



Life and Character of Zebiikm Baird Vance. 95 

United States Senate in November, 1870, but, being 
denied admission upon the ground that his political dis- 
abilities had not been removed, he resigned in January, 
1872. In the same year he was again the Democratic 
nominee for United States Senator, but was not elected by 
the general assembly ; was elected governor of North Caro- 
lina for the third time in 1876, and in January, 1879, was 
elected to the United States Senate ; was reelected in Jan- 
uary, 1885, and again reelected in January, 1891. He died 
in peace and in the full possession of all his faculties, at 
his residence in the city of Washington, 1627 Massachu- 
setts avenue, on April 14, 1894. 

Of him it may be said, as King David said unto his serv- 
ants when announcing the death of Abner: 

There is * * * a great man fallen * * * in Israel. 

He was indeed great intellectually and morally, and I do 
not believe there was ever a time during the whole period 
of his career when he was not conscious of his own great 
powers and qualities; but he was entirely free from any 
peculiar egotism or individual self-esteem. He was one 
of the most lovable of men, and if he was never at a loss 
to hold decided opinions of his own and to express them 
clearly and courageously, he always did so with humility 
and modesty. He had a giant's strength, but the softness, 
simplicity, and heart of a child. At school and at college 
he was recognized by teachers and students alike as one 
who had the promise of a brilliant future. 

He was a ready, humorous, and fluent speaker, and a 
bright and witty conversationalist; and before he left col- 
lege he acquired a reputation for genius and originality. 
His Dopularity ever^'where and at all times was a matter of 



96 Address of Mr. Henderson of NortJi Carolina. 

course and something phenomenal, in school, in college, 
in the legislature, in the army, as governor of the State, as 
a private citizen, and in Congress. Like the Chevalier 
Bayard, he may be said to have been, in most phases of 
his character, a man "without fear and without reproach." 
Before the war began in 1861 he had served one term in 
the State legislature and two terms in the United States 
House of Representatives, and in both of these assemblies 
he achieved distinction and took high rank. Although a 
strong believer in State rights, he did not originally favor 
the withdrawal of the Southern States from the Union. 

When war was inevitable he cast his lot with his State 
and went to the front in the defense of the people of North 
Carolina and of the Southern States; and the Confederate 
States never had a more faithful or loyal friend and sup- 
porter. It was not his fortune to serve long in the army, 
but he was a brave officer and soldier, and at the battle of 
Newbern he displayed skill and capacity as an officer and 
was conspicuous for his gallantry and courageous conduct 
on the field, and for services in that battle he was highly 
commended by his superiors in command. 

During the four years of the war — the times that tried 
men's souls — he was equal to every occasion and emer- 
gency. Until he was elected governor of the State in 
1862 he served in the field, sharing all the privations of 
the soldiers of his command with the same endurance, 
courage, and patience which pertained to the lot of the 
private soldier and with an alacrity and hopefulness born 
of true devotion to the Confederate cause. As governor of 
the State. he showed himself at his best, and no American 
Commonwealth during the exciting and troublous period 



Life and Character of Zchiilon Baird I ana'. 97 
of the war had a wiser, more successful, or more capable 
executive. He built up and husbanded in a remarkable 
and most skillful way all the resources of the State. No 
State furnished as many soldiers in proportion to popula- 
tion to the Confederate cause as North Carolina, and no 
soldiers of any State were better, braver, or more patriotic. 
Governor Vance was a splendid organizer. His block- 
ade runners enabled him to export cotton and other prod- 
ucts of the State to Liverpool and other European ports 
and to receive in exchange many necessary supplies for the 
use of the soldiers and people of North Carolina. There 
was dire distress in the State. Not only was there suffer- 
ing among the soldiers, but starvation threatened many a 
ho'usehold at home. The widows and orphans were pro- 
vided for, and, as far as was possible, all who were in dis- 
tress. Governor Vance did everything in his power to 
make comfortable provision for the Federal prisoners con- 
fined at Salisbury. In every county in the State relief 
committees were organized to help and succor the poor and 
needy. The noble women of North Carolina, with patri- 
otic devotion and genuine enthusiasm, responded to his 
every appeal. They ministered to the necessities of the 
sick and suffering, the wounded and dying. They clothed 
and fed the soldiers of the army and the destitute at home. 
If doing good is the great way of enriching character, how 
great must their reward be! Their works do follow them! 
These good and lovely women did not expect payment m 
this world for their deeds of kindness and charity. Their 
citizenship and reward is in Heaven beyond the skies! 
"Heaven-born charity," it has been beautifully said, "is 
the sovereign antidote for all the ills of womanhood." 



S Mis 151- 



98 Address of Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. 

At the close of the war the name of Vance was very 
dear to the people of North Carolina, and their love and 
esteem for him continned to the very last. xAIen, women, 
and children all admired and revered him, and the people 
of the State gave the most genuine proofs of their attach- 
ment and love for him. In 1876 they elected him governor 
for the third time, and the general assembly four times 
elected him United States Senator. I had the honor and 
privilege, as a member of the State senate, to vote for Gov- 
ernor Van'ce for United States Senator at the time of his 
election by the general assembly in January, 1879. 

If Senator Vance was not distinguished as a lawyer it 
was because he did not practice long enough to build up 
a great reputation, but he was certainly an accomplished 
forensic speaker and a splendid advocate at the bar. Until 
after he entered the Senate he had no reputation as a stu- 
dent. His Senatorial career commenced ]^Iarch 4, 1879, 
and thereafter he became a constant and faithful student of 
the tariff, of finance, and other economic questions, and he 
wrote and spoke much on all these subjects. He was a 
good writer and a charming speaker. On the hustings he 
had few equals anywhere, and in the Senate he was always 
heard with attention and respect. He was a great debater, 
and had an easy command of the English language. At 
times he was eloquent, and he was always humorous, 
mstructive, and entertaining. He had an interestino- and 
inexhaustible fund of anecdote, and when he could not 
demolish his antagonist by argument he effectivelv turned 
upon him the weapons of irony, invective, and ridicule. 
He did not indulge.in the flowers of oratory, but very few 
men excelled him in accuracy of speech or in strength of 
expression. 



Life and Character of Zebu Ion BaJrd J^ance. on 

His Senatorial colleagues admired and esteemed liim 
greatly; and the tributes recently paid to his memory in 
the other House are marvels of eloquence and accurac\- of 
judgment, and indicate a very keen insight into his charac- 
ter. Senator Blackburn, of Kentucky, said that ''never 
in all his life did he hear the virtues, the merits, and worth 
of a man more eloquently portrayed, more fairh- and truth- 
fully put" than by Senator Ransom in the Senate. Sena- 
tor Vance was a statesman of spotless integrity, and no 
country ever had a truer patriot. He was the friend of 
education, religion, and learning. Among his contem- 
poraries he held a foremost rank in fame and merit. He 
was ever the friend of the people, especially the humble, 
the needy, and the oppressed. 

Like Daniel Webster, he believed the Government of the 
United States to be the people's Government, made for the 
people, made by the people, and answerable to the people. 
And I say It reverently, "The common people heard him 
gladly." And while it may be truthfully said of him, as 
has been said of another great man, that "he was abso- 
lutely without fear, as he was above self-seeking and cor- 
ruption," it must nevertheless be admitted that Senator 
Vance was sometimes timid when he found the wishes 
of any large number of his constituents to be in opposition 
to his own views. He was loath to oppose a great popu- 
lar movement. He thought the popular judgment to be 
oftener right than wrong. He therefore deferred to the 
wishes of the people until he was convinced that the\- were 
wrong. He considered it the duty of every public man to 
endeavor ' ' to keep in touch with the people. ' ' We have a 
great country, but who made it great but the people? 
Trained and reared in another school of politics, Senator 



lOO Address of Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. 

\'axcE became b}' choice, study, and conviction, before he 
reached the middle of life, a Jeffersonian Democrat, and 
thenceforward he adhered to and upheld with ever-increas- 
ing sincerity and devotion what he believed to be the 
ancient creeds and true principles of the Democratic party. 
He knew he was not, and he did not believe an}' man 
was, great enough to be above his party. He loved the 
applause of the public and he was sincerely grateful for the 
honors that the people showered upon him. If it be true — 
and who doubts it? — that — 

The heavenliest lot that earthly natures know 
Is to be affluent in gratitude — 

he had indeed that blessing, for no man appreciated more 
or felt any more thankful for the favors of the people than 
himself. And that is one reason why his memory is so 
fragrant and his name so full of good cheer to the people 
of his State, who loved him so well. Their memory and 
meditation of him shall indeed be sweet ! 

Senator VancE was truthful and sincere, open and can- 
did to friend and foe alike. He knew full well that the 
people in trusting him did so because the}- had the utmost 
faith and confidence in his integrity and uprightness, and 
because they knew that the principles which guided him 
in his conduct through life would make him be to them 
a sincere and trustworthy counselor and friend. I can 
not find words better fitted to describe Senator Vance's 
character than in the following extract from the writings 
of Dean Stanley: 

Give us a man, young or olil, high (,r low, on whom we know we can tiior- 
oughly depend — who will stand firm when others fail — the friend, faithful ami 
true; the adviser, honest and fearless; the adversary, just and chivalrous. 

Senator Vance was twice married. When a young man 
he was united in holy matrimony to Miss Harriet Newell 



Life and Lliaractcr of Zcbiilon Baird \ ancc. loi 

Espey, of North Carolina, a lady of many intellectual gifts, 
of intense religious faith and convictions, a lovely Chris- 
tian character, devoutly given to all good works. They 
lived very happily together. Her influence over her hus- 
band was remarkable and permanent. They had four 
children, all sons, three of whom are still living. Her 
name is written in the book of life! 

Senator Vance had an abiding faith and a genuine 
belief in the truths of the Christian religion, but he was 
not the slave of education or prejudice. His views allowed 
for a wide latitude of theological opinion and individual 
liberty and tolerance. It is hard to admit the world inside 
a .sacred precinct of the heart. The little tender traits of 
beauty, which we can not always expect the world to 
appreciate, are usually kept back and withheld. I had a 
conversation with him a number of years ago in regard to 
some controverted points of Christian faith and practice. 
He told me that he thought all Christians of whatever 
name were agreed upon the essential articles and creeds, 
and that too much stress was laid upon their theological 
differences, many of which were either unimportant, imma- 
terial, or at least not vital. He impressed me at the time 
as one who had universal cliarity and tolerance toward 
those differing from him in religious opinions. He would 
have been perfectly consistent in saying of all faithful 
Christian people : 

They are brothers and comrades; they stand side by side. 
Their faith and their hope is the same. 

It is reported that he once said to a dear friend of his : 
"You believe in the doctrine of falling from grace, but 
never fall ; while I do not believe in that doctrine and am 
always falling." 



I02 Address of Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. 

One of the most popular and brilliant lectures he ever 
wrote was upon "The Scattered Nation" — God's ancient 
and chosen people. He delivered it man}- times; and I 
suppose that no other Christian man in America was ever 
as much loved and admired by the children of Israel as 
Senator Vance. They gave him their heart, their confi- 
dence and friendship, and he had an ever-ready welcome to 
their homes. The name of Vance is exceedingly precious 
to every Jew and is a household word in every Jewish circle 
in the United States. 

Senator Vance was not without his faults. He was sub- 
ject to human infirmities and frailties, for there is no man, 
not a just man upon earth, that doetli good and sinneth 
not, but this is no reason why his friends should not praise 
his goodness and virtues and seek to follow his eood 
example. 

" Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 

"If he sows poppies, he will get gaudy flowers; but 
what will he do when the harvest comes and he is hungry 
for bread ? ' ' 

Senator Vance was married, in June, 1880, to Mrs. Flor- 
ence Steele Martin, of Kentucky, a lady of rare personal 
attractions, elegant in manners, lively and brilliant in con- 
versation, exceedingly graceful, attractive, and intelligent, 
with literar}- talents and tastes of a high order; a refined, 
devoutly religious, and highly cultured woman. She was 
to her husband not only a devoted, dutiful wife, but a 
faithful friend and companion. She was the solace and 
comfort of his declining years. One of the best women I 
ever knew — she is now at rest — once told me that to know 
Mrs. \"ance intimately and to associate with her often in 
her own home was equal to a liberal education. 



Life and Character of Zcbiilou Baird famr. 103 
Comparisons are said to be odious, and I ^vill not under- 
take to sav that Senator Vance was greater than any of 
his contemporaries. History will do him justice and will 
faithfully portray his character and life' s work. His name 
will assuredly fill an enviable space on the historic page of 
his State and country. His character was unique and origi- 
nal. He was a man of genius, with extraordinary abilities 
and talents. In many respects he was without a peer. No 
man eyer liyed who was nearer and dearer to the hearts of 
the people of North Carolina. He was taken away at the 
very moment when his State and his country needed him 
most, and when he might haye been expected to enter 
upon a greatly enlarged sphere of usefulness and honor. 
Mr. Gladstone had been elected to Parliament before Sena- 
tor Vance was born, and that great statesman is still liymg, 
in the full possession of all his powers and influence. 
What a reminder of the shortness, yariableness, and uncer- 
tainty of human life! None of us can be made to realize 
this sufficiently. We are constantly reminded, and espe- 
cially on these solemn occasions, that 'Mnan that is born 
of a woman hath a short time to liye, and is full of misery," 
and that "in the midst of life we are in death." 

Great men die, the land mourns, and for a short time 
death is a reality to us; but we go on in our course as if 
we expected an exception to be made in some way in our 
own favor. Friends die, and, in a certain sense, we realize 
the hollowness of all things earthly; but we unconsciously 
ask ourselves whether a time shall really come when 
we ourselves must join the innumerable hosts of those 
who live beyond the grave. Knowing our own littleness 
and weakness, the shortness of life and the certainty of 
death, it needs no argument and requires no eff-ort for us to 



I04 Address of Mr. Henderson of North Carolina. 

conclude that the greatest man who ever lived on earth 
is in comparison with God as a "vain shadow," and that 
"every man living is altogether vanity." A great French 
preacher once expressed this feeling when preaching the 
funeral sermon over "the Grand iMonarque of France. " 
Looking around the church, which was draped in black 
for the solemn occasion, and then down on the corpse 
which was lying in state, Massillon commenced his ser- 
mon in these words: "God alone is great." Eternity, 
then, must be our final refuge and resting place, 

O great Eternity 1 

Our little life is but a gust 
Which bends the branches of thy tree 

And trails its blossoms in the dust. 

We must therefore learn to labor now, in this transitory 
life, before all our days are gone, bearing and forbearing, 
doing and suffering, for when a "few years are come," 
after life's short journey is over and we bring our years to 
an end, we "shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake" 
again in this world. 

Death! the unknown sea of rest! Who knows what hidden harmonies lie 
there to wrap us in softness, in eternal peace; and in death, not sooner or other 
wise, all the hot longings of the soul are to be satisfied and stilled. 

God alone can satify the desires and aspirations of the 
human heart. True greatness, then, is the eternal reward 
given for a life of moral and spiritual excellence. 

"OGod," says Augustine, "Thou hast made the heart 
of man for Thyself, and it is restless until it rests in 
Thee." 

Senator Vance received countless tokens of good will 
in his life from all sorts and conditions of men. Nearly 
everyone who knew him spoke well of him, and his friends 
rejoiced to have it so. And that it should have been so 



Life and Character of Zebu/on Baird \ 'aiice. 105 

does honor to those who gave him honor. Neitlier he nor 
his friends knew, however, how deep-seated and universal 
was the love and admiration for him of the people of his 
native State until after death had laid its hand upon him. 
The news of his decease was received evervwhere throuo^h- 
out the State of North Carolina with the most heartfelt 
expressions of sorrow and sympathy. The whole popu- 
lation, without distinction of party, race, or sect, vied 
with each other in their expressions of regret for his death 
and in showing respect for his memory. Women and chil- 
dren shed tears, and strong men wept. His loss is an 
irreparable one to his family, his party, and his State, 
and his name will ever be remembered with gratitude and 
honor by the people of his State, whom he served so well. 
Zebulon Baird Vaxce has departed hence in peace. 

All undaunted he died 
In the might of his pride. 

May we not humbly hope and believe that he is now 
in that unseen world "where the spirits and souls of 
the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the 
flesh, are in joy and felicity " ? 

The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the 
Lord in the last great day! And give unto him eternal 
rest, and let light perpetual shine upon him! 



io6 Address of Mr. Henderson of hnva. 



Address of Mr, Henderson of Iowa. 

Mr. Speaker: As one who was in the Union Army, 
standing by the grave of one who was in the Confeder- 
ate army, I approach a new experience, but not with any 
hesitation or feelings other than my best judgment and 
my whole heart can commend, and I bear witness to-day 
to the character of a departed statesman, and, though 
brief and limited my acquaintance, I can truthfully say, a 
respected and honored friend. 

I find pleasure, as I study the life of the departed states- 
man, in calling attention to his wonderful power as his 
keen vision swept over the horizon when he stood in 1861 
contemplating the future of his countiy. He was a strong 
and ardent lover of this Union, and here let me quote a 
distinguished witness. His .own colleague. Senator Ran- 
som, speaking of him in another place after his death, 
said : 

He had always been opposed to the secession of the Southern States, did 
everything possible to avert it, and was one of the very last Southern men to 
declare his love and devotion to the Union. 

I will not content myself with this single witness, but 
will quote also, on the same theme, the venerable and ex- 
alted statesman, Senator Morrill. They served together 
on this floor, and Senator Morrill says: 

In an era when our whole country appeared to be rumljling with invisible 
earthquakes and hissing with the oratorical skyrockets of secession, he served 
for four years, or until 1861, and, so far as I remember, contributed nothing to 
our or to the national unpleasantness. 



Life and Character of Zebu/on Baird J 'a nee. 107 

I will quote still another distino^uished witness on this 
subject. The venerable Senator Sherman says: 

There can be no doubt that at the beginning of the civil war Governor Vance 
was conspicuous at home, as well as here, as an ardent, outspoken Union man, 
but he also loved his State and his people among whom he had been born and 
bred, and when they were swept away by the torrent of opinion in the belief 
that it was their duty to secede from the Union, he went with them. 

Looking over this record and speaking to-day by his 
freshlv made grave, I would not occupy the mean position 
of being generous; I only ask for light and manliness to 
be just This man came of Revolutionary blood. The 
inspiration that followed the flag of Washington never 
ceased to permeate his great and mighty heart, and in 
1861 he stood like a bulwark against the waves that were 
beating against his country. Who will rise and criticise 
him when he yielded to the press of public opinion that 
was around him? 

He can not be a just man who will not fairly interpret 

the mental conditions then existing throughout the South, 

and he would be an unwise and an unjust one who would 

condemn the impetuous youth who finally yielded to the 

wave of sentiment and enrolled himself under the flag of 

secession. But through that whole experience — for he was 

captain, colonel, and governor of his State during that 

period — he not only proved himself to be brave and able, 

but his big heart never ceased to throb for his fellow-man. 

Qualified witnesses tell us that when Union prisoners 

were suffering in Salisbury this war governor of North 

Carolina appealed to the Southern Confederacy to send 

relief to those prisoners, and when that appeal was 

unheard he turned to the citizens of his own State and 

asked North Carolina to come to their aid. At the close 



io8 Address of Mr. Hcjidcrson of hnva. 

of the war, that wonderful war, Secretary Stanton sent 
orders to the general commanding North Carolina to arrest 
Governor Vance and bring him to Washington, with all 
his papers. It was done. Copy books containing every 
letter he had written as governor during the war were 
spread before the great Stanton, one whose heart did not 
quiver when duty called him to be severe. The record 
was examined, and here is the testimony which I present 
upon the authority of Senator Blackburn : 

When he did read that record and saw what this man had done, how persistent 
his efforts had been to ameliorate the condition of the Federal prisoners and to 
assuage the horrors of war, that great Secretary said to him : " Upon your record 
you stand acquitted ; you are at liberty to go where you please." 

It is an honor to point with a few brief words this lesson 
to my fellow-countrymen. He had that greatness which 
can not be dimmed by any clouds or any revolutions. 

He was a great orator. But, Air. Speaker, his greatest 
oratorical power spoke through his gentle and noble life. 
In his pathway as a public man and as a citizen he deliv- 
ered orations which, in House or Senate, his lips never 
equaled. As an orator he had the wonderful gift of mak- 
ing everything that he spoke of so plain and simple that 
all around him understood every thought. He did not 
send his thoughts above the masses who listened to him. 
He had the genius of Lincoln in that regard, of simplify- 
ing. And so it was in his life and conduct with his fellow- 
men. He was so approachable that he was constantly in 
close contact with the masses and drew the inspirations 
which alone can come from what Mr. Lincoln called "the 
common people." No man feared to approach Senator 
Vance with his troubles or his joys or his ambitions, and 
he listened to them all so attentively and kindly that he 



Life and Character of Zcbulou Baird J^aucc. 109 

arrived at the full status of the man's mind and affairs, 
and was thus equipped to serve him. 

Promotion never warped his genius or destroyed his 
power. Ah ! how often do we see a man in private life 
free and easy with his fellow-man, stopping to speak with 
the man carrying the dinner pail or with the humblest 
citizen, laughing and talking and shaking hands as one 
of the people, and then, when subsequently promoted to 
power, he buttons up his coat, wears a "heaven-erected 
face," as Burns would put it, and fancies that God has 
dropped a peculiar ointment upon him to lift him and 
make him better than his fellow-men. 

These men fail in their usefulness in public life. Thev 
do not hear the heart beat or the sigh of sorrow. This 
distinguished man never made that mistake. In his every- 
day walks of life he was as simple as a Senator as he was 
as a private citizen or a member of his State legislature. 

He was a wit. He carried that sharp and dangerous 
blade; but he seldom unsheathed it, indulging rather in 
the warm glow of humor which turns even enemies into 
friends. 

I met him first, to take his hand, when we were attend- 
ing a meeting of the Sons of the Revolution in this city. 
And when he sat down, after describing and eloquentlv 
touching on some of the scenes of the past, he sat down 
with me as his brother and his friend. The thought 
flashed through my mind, if this was a Confederate soldier 
the Confederacy is truh' gone, and we are sure of a perma- 
nent, loved, and indissoluble Union. 

He was brave, honest, kind, true; and above all he was 
faithful to his friends. He did not accept the hard toil 



no Address of Mr. Henderson of lozua. 

and devotion of friends, and then, when elevated to power, 
seek to dicker with his enemies at the expense of his 
friends. He was true to friendship, and at the same time 
true to his highest duty as a public man. 

Weighted not with years, but with many honors, cares, 
and duties well done, he has passed away. No noble heart 
rejoices over this grave, but sorrow springs up in every 
generous soul because this great and good man has passed 
from our midst. 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 



in 



Address of Mr. Hooker of Mississippi. 

Mr. Speaker: It was my privilege, and my honor too, 
to call Senator Vance my friend and to know him with 
a great deal of intimacy, springing up during our Con- 
gressional services. And while I have not written an ad- 
dress for this occasion, I was gratified when one of the 
members of the North Carolina delegation came to me 
and said they desired tliat I should say something on this 
occasion. 

It has become a thing almost to be regretted that eulo- 
gies upon members of the Congress of the United States, 
whether they belong to the Senate or the House, are 
not delivered immediately after the demise of the mem- 
ber; but as the>' are designed rather for posterity than for 
ourselves, and to put upon record a lasting impression of 
the opinions of those who have served with the deceased, 
and to commit to the printing press the power of perpetu- 
ating that record forever, it is probably not altogether 
improper that some time and some reflection should be 
given to what is to be said. So, as I am prompted rather 
by my heart than my head to speak on this occasion in 
meniorv of the friend whom I so honored while he lived, 
and whom the countr)- so honored while he lived, I must 
apologize for the want of that thorough presentation of 
Senator Vance's historical record which will come more 
appropriately from the members from his own loved vState 
of North Carolina. 



112 AdciJ-css of Mr. Hooker of Mississippi. 

Senator Vance was born in Buncombe County, N. C, 
on the i3tli of May, 1830. He was born in a region of 
country marked for its geographical beauty, its magnifi- 
cence, and its sublimity. It borders upon my own nati\e 
State of South Carolina ; and of all the mountain scenery 
of our country, whether in the Blue Ridge, or the Alle- 
ghanies, or the Rockies, or the Sierra Nevada looking out 
upon the Pacific, there is no sublimer scenery in our land 
than that in the midst of which Zebulon B. Vance was 
born. I have alwa>-s held to the idea that men partake 
somewhat of the region of country in which their eyes 
first look upon the light ; and those of us who have seen 
that beautiful country and stood in its valleys with car- 
pets made bv the hand of the Master, and have looked up 
into those lofty mountains, sometimes glassed in sun- 
shine, sometimes covered with shadow, and sometimes the 
home of the storm god, will cease to wonder that a land so 
favored by nature should have produced heroes among her 
men and heroines among her women. 

It is of all favored portions of our country probably the 
o-randest and most beautiful. And it was here, amidst that 
rural population, that Vance was reared and took his 
first impressions. He grew up amongst a simple-hearted 
Scotch and Irish ancestry, who, coming to this country, 
found the quiet nooks of the mountains analogous to their 
own native soil, and therefore made in that region their 
settlement. He grew up with that wonderful veneration 
for the Divinity which belongs to those Scotch-Irish peo- 
ple. vSimple in their habits, unostentatious in their man- 
ners, they grew up amidst those mountains, cherishing the 
virtues of the countrv from which tley came and lending 



Life and Character of Zelmlon Baird lance. 113 

a hand promptly in the Revolutionary war to give perma- 
nency to the liberties of their people. When that war 
closed a material development as remarkable as that of the 
countries from which they came marked the regions of 
North Carolina in which his Revolutionary ancestry lived. 
vSenator Vance was early distinguished in the history 
of his own State, being elected twice to its legislature and 
twice to this House before the war, and after the war he 
was elected to the Senate of the United States in 1870. 
He came here at that time ; but, unfortunately for him, 
what were called his "civil disabilities" had not been 
removed by an act of Congress of the United States, and 
he was therefore denied admission to his seat as a Senator. 
He returned to the State of North Carolina, and, thinking 
it probable that he might not be admitted to his seat, he 
resicrned his commission as a United States Senator in 
1872, and went back to live among the people whom he 
loved so well and who were so delighted to honor him. 
But it was not the fate of such a man, with such a mind 
and heart, to be left to follow the quiet walks of private 
life. 

He was soon again elected to the Senate of the United 
States, his civil disabilities having been in the meantime 
removed, and was admitted to the Senate. When he 
took his position in that body as a Senator there were 
giants there— men of great minds, of long and large ex- 
perience. Yet this gifted son of North Carolina took his 
place from the first in the front rank of the debaters oi 
that great debating body of the world. His distinguished 
abilities being promptly recognized, he was assigned to 
important committees; and he performed his Senatorial 
S Mis 151 8 



114 Address of Mr. Hooker of Mississippi. 

functions in such a way as to challenge the admiration of 
his associates on all sides of that Chamber. 

It was gratifying to me, in looking over the record of 
his obsequies in that body, to find that it was not alone 
from his own people that he received words of commenda- 
tion. His gifted colleague, that man of splendid talent 
and magnificent oratory, that chevalier of the South, 
whether on the field of battle or in the halls of Congress — 
his gifted colleague. Senator Ransom, said one thing of 
him which almost summarized the history of his life. In 
delivering the eulogy iipon his gifted colleague Senator 
Ransom said: 

He was bold, brave, open, candid, and without reserve. He desired all the 
world to know his opinions and positions, and never hesitated to avow them. 

Alongside of him sat that able and venerable Senator 
from Vermont, Justin S. Morrill, the oldest surviving 
Senator of the United States when I first came to Con- 
gress and the oldest living Senator now. His tribute was 
mao-nificent. Side bv side with him there sat that splendid 
statesman of intellect and thorough knowledge of politi- 
cal questions, of astute powers of investigation, who him- 
self had made a great name for himself, John Sherman, 
the senior Senator from Ohio, who delivered a eulogy on 
that occasion of which any man or any State might well 
be proud. I mention these, Mr. Speaker, because of the 
differences of political opinion existing between them and 
the deceased Senator. 

Senator Vance was again elected to the Senate of the 
United States, as I have said, and died wdiile occupying the 
honored position to which his people delighted to assign 
him. It has been remarked bv mv distinguished friend 



Life and Oiaracter of Zebidon Baird leaner. 115 

from Iowa [Mr. Henderson], who has just addressed the 
House in commemoration of Senator Vance, that he was 
a Union man at the outbreak of the war and was opposed 
to the secession of the States. That, ]\Ir. Speaker, is true. 
He took his position in the early discussions of this ques- 
tion side by side with such men as William L. Sharkey, of 
my own State, who opposed secession because he believed 
that the differences between the States could be better set- 
tled by arbitration, by prudence, by judgment, and by for- 
bearance rather than by resorting to the last great final 
arbiter among men, the sword. And he defended that posi- 
tion with an earnestness and zeal and truthfulness — for 
he always avowed what he thought fearlessly — that the 
remedies of the Southern States and the Southern people 
were within the Union and under the Constitution. But 
when his State of North Carolina seceded from the Union, 
believing his duty was to go with her, with that patriotism 
and devotion to his people which always characterized 
him, he at once raised a company of troops, was elected as 
captain, and within a short time afterwards was chosen 
colonel of the Twenty-sixth Regiment of North Carolina 
troops. On every field of battle where he was present he 
earned for himself the reputation not only of a sagacious, 
intelligent, and brave soldier, but the character of one who 
knew how to care for the troops under his command. 

But he was a man of too large ability in civil life to be 
permitted to spend his time during the war in battle, and 
it was during the war that he was elected governor of his 
own State of North Carolina, and elected a second time 
while the war was still progressing ; and it was in this 
capacit\' that his great executive ability and wonderful 



ii6 Address of Mr. Hooker of Mississippi. 

devotion to the troops that entered the service of the Con- 
federacy were manifested. When he had called again and 
again upon the Confederate Government for arms and 
supplies, food and clothing, to supply the troops that he 
had called out in the field from his own State and by his 
ov/n proclamations, and found he could not rely upon 
them to furnish those things so necessary for their comfort, 
he equipped a small fleet of vessels, sent them down the 
river, out into the ocean and to the river Clyde, and there 
procured a suitable outfit for the Confederate troops from 
the vState of North Carolina. 

That flotilla of small vessels came back, and, success- 
fully running the blockade of the Federal ships, not only 
provided for the wants of the North Carolina troops, but 
many of the other troops in the service of the Confederacy, 
thus showing that he felt it to be his duty, after he called 
the men into active service, to see that they were not only 
properly armed and equipped, but properly fed and clothed 
as well. 

It was in this capacity, Mr. Speaker, that he won for 
himself the title which has been yielded to no other man 
in the history of the Confederacy, that he was the "war 
governor" of the State of North Carolina, and not only 
the war governor of that State, but the great war governor 
of the South. He served in this capacity three times, and 
was thence transferred to the Senate of the United States, 
as I have already said. When any question came up for 
discussion in that body, and usually no question referring 
to the subject of taxation and the tariff laws was pre- 
sented that he did not speak upon, he evinced a clearness 
of thought, a soundness of judgment, and a thoroughness 



Life and Character (rf Zelnilon Baird I'ance. 117 

of investigation that challenged admiration on all sides of 
the Chamber. 

His character was distinguished from the very start in 
his public life, and it is a remarkable fact that there was no 
error at any time committed by him that the historian can 
point to in his career as a governor, as a Senator, as a sol- 
dier, or as a citizen. As a governor he was without a 
peer; as a citizen no one stood higher than he, and as a 
soldier he won great fame and honor on the battlefield. 
But it was in the walks of private life that the character 
of the man shone most brightly. First he was wedded to 
a lady of his own State, and his children snrvive him to 
receive the rich heritage of the high reputation of charac- 
ter and honor won for himself in every avocation of life. 
After the death of his first wife, in later life he married 
a lady with whom the citizens of Washington and people 
who come here from every portion of the country are not 
unfamiliar. She was the solace of his life from the time 
of his marriage until he passed away. She has been the 
ornament of the society in which he dwelt and moved 
during his lifetime. She, too, survives him. But in all 
the acts he has done, v*^hether in the field or as the execu- 
tive of the State of North Carolina or as the well- 
equipped Senator from one of the sovereign States of the 
Union, coming as its ambassador to the halls of Congress 
to speak its sentiments, whatever position he filled, he has 
won fame, honor, and the good will of all men who held 
rank with him. Justly may his State and family be proud 
of the heritage they have received from his hands. In no 
position did he fail to discharge his duty to his country, 
to his fellow-citizens, and to the God whom he revered. 



ii8 Address of Mr. Hooker of Mississippi. 

It is said that one of the most remarkable discourses he 
ever delivered was in a lecture where he paid a wonderful 
tribute to that great nation of Israelites, who in modern 
times it has been the custom to speak of in such terms 
of disparagement. Speaking of the scattered nations, he 
depicts that great nation that had Isaiah for its poet and 
the Maccabees for generals. He might well have said of 
it that there were no people more remarkable than that 
wonderful nation. 

He delivered many other lectures, and at last, in the 
Senate of the United States, he consecrated his services to 
his country by leaving in every speech that he made speci- 
mens of oratory, of humor, of wit. He seldom indulged 
in sarcasm, because he had too much heart for it, but he 
has left prominently upon the records of the Senate speci- 
mens of oratory, of humor, of wit that will make him 
rank with the greatest men of the olden times. He will 
take his position in line with the great men from his own 
State — and they have been great — from the earliest days. 
He will take his position side by side with that venerable 
trio that passed away long ago, of whom we are in the 
habit of speaking when the Senate is named, Calhoun, 
Clay, and Webster. He will take his position as one of the 
great orators and statesmen of the land in which he lived. 

From his earliest service to his country, when he was 
first put into public position as governor, from the time he 
was first attorney of one of the districts of the State of 
North Carolina, down to the time when he finally closed 
his eyes, every act of his life, every thought of his mind, 
every conception of his heart, was for his country and his 
whole country. He might well be pardoned if, in the 



Life and Character of Zcbitlou Bai'rd ]'a?ice. 119 

closing hours of his life, looking back to the memorable 
events in which he had been so prominent an actor, he 
had imitated the modesty of the great poet of the olden 
days who, when he contemplated the wonderful epic of his 
own production, exclaimed in its closing lines, as Vaxce 
could have exclaimed in his closing hours: 

Jamque opus exegi, quod nee Jovis ira, nee ignis, 
Nee poterit ferrum, nee edax aholere vetustas. 



I20 Address of Mr. Daniels of N'ew York. 



Address of Mr. Daniels. 

Mr. Speaker: I take part with the gentlemen who have 
been assigned to express their tribute of regard for the life 
and memory of this distinguished man from the circum- 
stance that I was one of those who were selected on the 
part of the House to carry his remains to their last and 
final resting place. During early life, however, my atten- 
tion had been called to the character and career of Mr. 
Vance. He soon rose upon the political and national 
horizon so high as to attract the attention and respect of 
the country. A public career was before him which was 
improved by his abilities and his fidelity to his country's 
interests that continued him in public life and the service 
of his State. He soon became known to the Union and to 
all the localities in which patriotism and ability were held 
in respect and esteem ; and he was known to be a man 
who in all the walks of public life certainly fulfilled the 
expectations of his State and of his country. 

But one period arose which subjected him in any respect 
to criticism, and that has been referred to upon this occa- 
sion by other gentlemen addressing the House. That was 
the part which he took in the conflict that was brought 
on between the people of the different sections of the coun- 
try in their struggle, as it finally turned out, either for the 
maintenance or the overthrow of the system of human slav- 
ery. It was considered, in a large section of the countrv, 
to be entirely incompatible with the free system of our 



Life and CJiaracter of Zcbiiloji Baird I'aiicc. 121 

Government, while on the other liand it was regarded and 
maintained as a peculiar institution of the other section. 
But it had become oppressive there, as well as the subject 
of condemnation from other portions of the land, and it 
was one of those developments which it has been the fate 
of humanity to settle only by the arbitrament of arms. 
The knot was to be cut by the sword, and by no other 
means whatever. Negotiations and compromise had come 
to an end, and therefore this conflict was brought about 
by the apparent force of circumstances. 

The system was placed in the balances, and the deceased 
Senator took the side of his own section, and manfully 
and fearlesslv maintained what he believed to be rio-ht. 
But in this conflict this institution was extino-nished and 
has disappeared from the face of the country, and from 
identity with its prominent institutions, and at this time 
we have reached certainly a point where the mantle of 
oblivion should be spread over the act and the lives and 
the conduct of those persons who, under the impulse of 
their own localities, took part in this serious and deadly 
conflict. The result has been an advantasfe to the countrv, 
to the section even in which this institution had existed 
and become oppressive, and now all the States and all the 
population of the States are in a condition to march for- 
ward in the progress of industrial success, of intellectual 
accomplishment, and of the highest patriotism that may 
be known to free and independent citizens. 

This man, under all circumstances where he was em- 
ployed on behalf of the public, whether in one capacit^' or 
another, fulfilled entirely the expectations that were enter- 
tained of him, and as such certainlv was not onlv entitled 



122 Address of Mr. Da u ids of Xczc York. 

to but has generally received the coniiiiendation and ap- 
proval of the people of the United States, whether in his 
own localit)- or in others where his renown had extended 
and his character was esteemed and respected. 

Bnt it is not in reference to his public character that 
I desire so much to call the attention of the House upon 
this occasion as it is to the jDrivate character of the man. 
Although I had not a personal acquaintance with the de- 
ceased Senator, yet from the circumstances that occurred 
during the transit of his remains from here to the place of 
his burial evidences were presented from the population of 
the State of which he was a resident that indicated the 
high esteem in which his private character and his private 
virtues were held by the communities through which his 
remains were taken. 

T ma}- say here, Mr. Speaker, that while the public men 
of our countrv and other countries may be commended, 
may be approved and extolled by general expressions of 
sentiment as to their public career and the discharge of 
their public duties, there is no greater evidence of the 
worth and character of the individual than that which is 
secured from the expressions of respect and regard by the 
masses of the people. When this man's remains were 
taken to the capital of his State and laid there in the 
vStatehouse for the observation of the people of that city, 
they not only assembled and passed in silent respect the 
bier whereon these remains laid, but, in addition to that, 
the poor and lowly, the masses especially, were largely 
among the throng that passed by the remains upon this 
occasion; and from the silent evidences of sorrow, respect, 
and regret that those persons gave it was apparent that the 



Life and CJiaractcr of Zebu Ion Baird J^ance. 123 

hold of this distinguished man on the mind and affections 
of the common people had reached thronghont the com- 
munity. 

They were the persons who passed silenth' by, indicating 
the great sorrow and the great attachment that had grown 
up in their hearts from the life and experience that they 
had had of this man and of his qualities and his conduct 
as a jDrominent man and member of their State. It was a 
tribute that could not be given to any public person other- 
wise than from a deep sense that had impressed itself 
upon the minds of these people of his virtues, of his for- 
bearance, of his assistance to the lowly and laboring classes 
of the community. It was not only among the masses of 
the white people that these tributes of respect and these 
tributes of feeling were given to him, but among the black 
people as well. All seemed to cherish and revere him as 
their friend, as a person upon whom they had depended, 
and from whom they had received assistance. 

It was a gratifying circumstance to see these evidences 
of feeling and of sympathy upon the part of these people, 
the "plain people," as Mr. Lincoln designated them, flow- 
ing out upon this occasion for the memory of a man who 
had been so long in their service and the service of their 
State. 

When the remains were taken from this place toward 
the city where they were to be consigned to the tomb, they 
remained upon the railway cars at Durham for the period 
of an hour, and during the time the train remained there 
this class of people again thronged the cars and passed 
through for the purpose of paying tribute to the man for 
whom they entertained this great degree of respect; and 



124 Address of Mr. Daniels of Xe7i' York. 

the crowd was so large that it seemed as though all the 
working classes of that city had gathered together to render 
the deceased this tribute of their sincerity and of their great 
respect. 

When, in the progress of the journey, the train passed 
through Greensboro, the same manifestations of feeling and 
respect from the masses of the people were again renewed, 
and while the train remained there those people, although 
the time was evening, thronged about the platform and 
passed through the car for the purpose of taking a last look 
at the man whom they had learned to admire, to respect, 
and to love. 

We passed from there to the city where his residence had 
been; and there he was laid before the people in the same 
condition of state. There he received the attention, the 
commendation, the respect, and the love of the individuals 
coinposing those classes of the community, as he had at 
the other places through which the remains had been 
taken. When the time arrived to take him to the beau- 
tiful cemetery adjacent to the city of Asheville, where his 
remains were to be laid in quietude, he was followed by 
this class of people, as well as by the intelligent, the busi- 
ness, and the wealthy classes of that city, to the cemetery 
upon the hillside where he was laid in the tomb. 

These evidences of respect, these evidences of attention, 
these tributes and marks of affection on the part of these 
people, show what the character of this man had been 
during his life. They show what he had earned in the 
way of commendation from the people of his own locality, 
as well as generally from the people of the United States. 
He was taken to this spot and there buried, with these 



Life and Character of Zebulou Baird J'aiice. 125 

people surrounding him, giving him the last evidences of 
respect and affection that they were capable of giving 
him, and there he was left to sleep in the slope of this 
beautiful cemetery, almost at the foot of which was the 
river that flowed from the mountains down to the sea. 
He has passed, as this river passes, to the ocean of eter- 
nity, and there his remains were left in the hope, of course, 
on the part of all, in the promise of a final and blissful 
resurrection. 

But these attributes which were exhibited in the mani- 
festations of the people could not but impress every person 
with the conviction that he was a man who, in his life, in 
his conduct, in his relations to others, had secured the 
approval not only of the wealthy, the intelligent, the pros- 
perous members of the community, but also that he was 
upon a line of entire affinity with the working j)eople, 
the poor people of the locality in which he lived and of 
his great State; and that they entertained for him a deep 
measure of respect and affection was indicated by the ex- 
pressions of sorrow that attended his demise. It was an 
honor to his memory, an honor to the man, an honor to 
the State, a manifestation that could not have originated 
from any other source than the grandeur, the sincerity, 
and the kindliness of his character, and these evidences 
will, no doubt, long live to characterize, to preserve, and to 
secure his memory in the minds and hearts of all classes of 
the people of his State as well as of the country at large. 



126 Address of Mr. Wheeler oj Alabama. 



ADDRESS OF MR, WHEELER OF ALABAMA, 

:\Ir. vSpeaker: Senator Vance, probably more than any 
other man of this generation, possessed qnalities which 
peculiarly fitted him for a public servant in a Republic 
like ours. He combined great ability, profound learning, 
intuitive knowledge of human nature, and the faculty of 
presenting his views with great power and clearness. In 
any attitude or position in life Senator Vance would have 
been a leader and would have achieved great distinction. 
His character seems to have abounded in those qualities 
which people of all classes and conditions love and admire. 

He was honest and sincere in every phase and interpreta- 
tion of those words. He was generous in all his dealings. 
To the weak he was tender and magnanimous. His whole 
life was an exemplification of love and devotion to the peo- 
ple whom he served. To this was largely due the bounte- 
ous outpouring of love from his people to their idolized 

leader. 

At the age of twenty-four Senator Vance became dis- 
tinguished as a member of the legislature of North Caro- 
lina; at twenty-six he was prominent as an eloquent and 
able Representative in the Congress of the United States. 
At thirty-one he had organized one of the finest regiments 
in the Confederate army, had become greatly distinguished 
as its leader, and had received the highest commendation 
for his coolness, courage, and soldierly conduct in battle. 
A year later, when but thirt\-two years of age, he was 



Life and Character of Zcbulon Baird Vance. 127 

elected governor of North Carolina, and in 1864 was re- 
elected to that exalted position. His administration of 
affairs as chief executive of his State earned for him the 
approval, support, and confidence of the people. He per- 
fected arrangements by which the resources of the State 
were availed of to clothe, feed, and care for the soldiers in 
the field, and at the same time to give protection to their 
families and their homes. 

I first met Senator Vance in April, 1865. It was inevi- 
table that the next day the Federal army under General 
Sherman would occupy the State capital. It is a histor- 
ical fact that, appalled as they were by the strength of the 
Federal army and the inability of the Confederates to resist 
the overpowering forces under General Sherman, many 
prominent men advised that North Carolina should make 
the best possible terms with the Federal Government. 

Senator Vance was too great a man to be led from his 
plain line of duty into negotiations of such a character, and 
he determined that the honor and best interests of North 
Carolina and her brave soldiers, who had won imperishable 
renown, demanded that she should share the fate of her 
sister Southern States. Preferring, in case he fell into the 
hands of the Federals, to be in the attitude of a military 
rather than a political prisoner, and desiring to remain as 
close to his capital as possible, and to obtain the earliest 
information as to the condition of the Confederates as well 
as the movements of the Federal army, Governor Vance 
was appointed an aid-de-camp upon my staff, with the 
rank of colonel, and for some days I had the honor and 
pleasure of an intimate association with this distinguished 
war governor. I was forcibly impressed with his wisdom 



128 Address of Mr. Uliccler of Alabama. 

and foresight. Surrounded as we were by what seemed to 
most people inextricable uncertainties, Governor Vance 
appeared to fully comprehend our future. 

His distinofuished career since the war is fully known to 
our country. Few Southern Senators haye been so fortu- 
nate in exercising influences for the benefit of the States 
they represent as Senator Vance. 

I shall leave it to those of his own State to speak more 
in detail of the career of this eminent man. The exalted 
position which he held for more than the third of a century 
places him high in rank as a man of national usefulness 
and prominence. 

He enjoyed the respect of the entire country. The 
brave soldiers he so gallantly led love and admire him for 
his courage in battle, the hearts of the people of his State 
go out with feelings of love and gratitude for the fidelity 
with which he executed the trusts confided to him, and the 
people of the South will always honor and revere his 
memory. 

By the side of the ever-running streams and the eternal 
hills of the historic State of North Carolina, the State 
which gave him birth and lavished honors upon him, the 
mortal remains of Senator Vance have been laid to rest. 



Life and CJiaractcr of Zcbulou Baird Jmhcc. 129 



Address of Mr. Bland. 

Air. Speaker: I wish in a few words to add my tes- 
timony to the great merits of our departed statesman, 
Senator Vance. 

He was a member of the Senate; I a member of the 
House. Yet we were frequently thrown together, both 
socially and officially. I was, probably, brought closer to 
him because like myself he believed that the restoration 
of the free coinage of silver was necessary to the financial 
welfare of the country. Bimetallism had no abler advo- 
cate in either House of Congress than Senator Vance, 

In the coming battles for this cause we will miss his wise 
counsels and deplore the loss of his eloquent pleas for the 
success of this great issue. 

Whenever I learned that Senator Vance had the floor in 
the Senate on the silver question I always took pleasure in 
going over to hear him. 

His eloquent words in opposition to the repeal of the 
purchasing clause of the Sherman law rang out in warning, 
and his prophecies that the j)romised prosperity consequent 
on the repeal would never come, but on the contrary that 
the country would suffer on account of such legislation, 
have proven to be true. 

Senator Vance was one of the most striking personages 
in public life. There was a magnetic charm about his 
smiling face. His evident good nature, coupled with his 
strength of character, at once photographed itself upon the 
memory, 

S Mis 151 9 



130 Address of Mr. Bland, of Missouri. 

I can see him now as he appeared in all the strength and 
power of a great man, for he was truly great. 

In debate he was strong and forceful. Always in ear- 
nest, intensely sincere, yet withal he had a pleasing man- 
ner, so that while vanquishing his opponents he awoke no 
spirit of revenge. 

Mr. Speaker, if Death sought from among us a man who 
in all his nature was a sympathizer and friend of struggling 
humanity, if the fell Destroyer was determined to strike 
down one of the most conspicuous champions and ablest 
defenders of the interest of the plain people, then, indeed, 
was the doom of Senator Vance inevitable. But Death 
spares no man, however great and useful he may be. 
Truly life is but a span. When we live out our allotted 
"three-score and ten," we look back to the days of child- 
hood, youth, and mature age, we compress all these years 
of joy and sorrow, of success and failure, in a moment of 
intense thought. Yea, the mind goes back through the 
dim vista of ages past. We see the peoples who for thou- 
sands of years have come and gone. We confuse and con- 
found until all mankind since the world began appear 
as our contemporaries. Dying, we join them as youthful 
companions in eternit\-. 

Death is the great commoner. He lays the heads of the 
great and powerful as low as the humblest. But death can 
not rob the great Senator of his just renown. His memory 
will live. His life and character will be pointed to as an 
example of what honesty and energy may accomplish. 

His name and fame are secure. 

As we love and revere his memory, so also we trust his 
spirit is at peace with his God. 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 131 



ADDRESS OF MR. MCMlLLIN. 

Mr. Speaker: One of the strongest and best beloved 
sons of the Southland and patriots of the whole land is gone. 
We come to-day to place in the records of this House our 
humble tribute to his many virtues. 

Senator Vance was born in 1830, in North Carolina, 
and finished his education, so far as his schooling was 
concerned, about the time he reached manhood. But his 
period of study did not end there, for to the day of his 
death he was not only a thoughtful man, but he had de- 
voted much time to studying the writings and sayings of 

others. 

One of the British essayists has defined genius to be 
the possession in combination of " a quick perception, a 
strong understanding, and a high sense of the ludicrous." 
All of these our deceased friend possessed in a very high 
deo-ree. In truth, he was a very rare and remarkable 
combination. He possessed native brilliancy without it 
diminishing his disposition to study; he had the finest wit 
and humor without impairing his reputation for serious 
thought and stern action. These were used only as aids 
in impressing solemn truths and serious matters. His 
speeches, both written and extemporary, abound in humor- 
ous thought, witty expression, and in anecdote ; but I defy 
the most careful critic of his public utterances to point 
to any of these that were ever used except to illustrate a 
weighty matter. 



132 Address of Mr. McMillin of Tennessee. 

From his first entrance into public life to the close of his 
long and eventful career the most signal success marked 
the course of this wonderful man. For over a third of 
a century he participated in the great conflicts of our in- 
tense American life. Step by step, and with remarkable 
rapidity, he rose from station to station till he had served 
his State as its attorney, in its legislature, in its army, 
and the House of Representatives here, as its governor, 
and as its four-times-elected United States Senator. He 
saw the slavery question rise and culminate. He saw the 
Union divided and our whole people rush to the tented 
field, and was a participant in the mightiest civil war of 
all the ages. So prominent was he as Congressman, as an 
officer in the iVrmy of Virginia, as war governor, as Sena- 
tor, then as governor in the tr}dng period that succeeded 
our war, that it would be no exaggeration to say that he 
was one of those upon whom all eyes were fixed. Yet 
it can be truly said that never for an hour, .never for a 
moment, either North or South, was his courage, his hon- 
estv, his patriotism, or his self-sacrificing devotion to 
principle questioned. 

Nor were his admirable qualities confined to the field of 
public dutv. He was as lovable in his home life as he was 
admirable in public station. I know now and knew before 
he wed her the noble woman who stood by his deathbed at 
the last sad hour. And I know that whilst his country 
suffered much by his departure, his sweet and hospitable 
home can never again be lighted as his genial smile illu- 
mined it. 

Mr. Speaker, Senator Vaxck not only had the virtues 
I have enumerated, but he loved the God who had given 



Life and Character of Zebuloii Baird I'ancc. 



•\ -I -I 



him being with his "whole soul, mind, and strength," 
and he yielded himself up to His service. He was able 
to pass through the valley of the shadow of death with 
the same freedom from fear that had marked his journey 
through life. The blaze of Christianity illumined his way, 
and no fear caused him to falter when he came to "tread 
the wine press alone." 

Sir, honored by his great State as few men ever are, 
loved b}' all who knew him, respected and admired b}- the 
people of all the States, he has been taken from the 
country he loved so much and served so well. From the 
shores of the Atlantic to the summit of North Carolina's 
beautiful mountains there is not a patriotic son or daugh- 
ter of the glorious North State whose heart is not bowed 
down with grief on account of our country's loss. His 
•whole people, whether residing on mountain or in valley, 
in mansion, in cottage, or in cabin, feel that they have 
lost x great champion, and the country a great defender. 

May the God whom he loved and served bless the family 
left to mourn him, and inspire those of us who survive him 
with that love of country and devotion to duty and prin- 
ciple which are shining characteristics of his glorious life. 



134 Address of Mi'. Springer of Illijiois. 



Address of Mr. Springer. 

Mr. Speaker: I will not speak of all the positions of 
honor held by the distinguished Senator whose memory we 
are commemorating on this occasion, or of all his great 
virtues. Others better acquainted with his long and hon- 
orable career than I am have already given the details of 
his life work, and have recounted the many acts of his 
illustrious and eventful history. He served as a member 
of this House in two Congresses before the war, was three 
times governor of his State, and was four times elected a 
Senator in Congress, but was not seated under his first 
election. He died in the middle of his third term of Sen- 
atorial service. He held many offices of honor and trust 
in his State, and served for a short time in the Confeder- 
ate army. In all the positions held by him he acquitted 
himself with marked distinction. 

He was a man of commanding presence. In any as- 
sembly or company of people he would have been "the 
observed of all observers" on account of his fine physique, 
his dignified bearing, and his intellectual features. I did 
not know him in his youth, but in his maturer years he 
was in appearance an ideal governor, a model Senator. 

He was of a most cheerful disposition. One could not 
come into his presence without feeling a sense of cheerful- 
ness at once. It was impossible to be with him without 
forgetting all cares and vexations of life. He possessed an 
inexhaustible fund of information on all public questions, 
and never was at a loss to emphasize his narrations of per- 
sonal and historical reminiscences with amusing- anecdotes. 



Life and Character of Zebu/on Baird Vance. 135 

He possessed in a high degree a sense of humor, and en- 
joyed telling and listening to others tell amusing incidents 
in everyday life. Few persons whom I have known could 
tell a story in a better vein of humor or in a manner more 
impressive than he could. In this respect he was very 
much like Abraham Lincoln. They both made their pop- 
ular addresses exceedingly attractive to their hearers by 
an occasional humorous illustration, which never failed 
to call forth demonstrations of applause and to rivet the 
attention of the audience upon the more solid and instruc- 
tive portions of their discourses. 

Senator Vance enjoyed in a most remarkable degree the 
affections of the people of his State, and in fact of the 
whole country. He was a gentleman of the old school, 
honorable and just in all the relations of life. His integ- 
rity was far above all suspicion, and he maintained at all 
times a steadfast adherence to his convictions, and upheld 
the right regardless of consequences. He was a statesman 
in the broadest sense, a devoted friend of the common peo- 
ple, and a fearless advocate of the equal rights of all before 
the law. He so lived during this mortal life that he ap- 
proached the life to come with calm resignation, and even 
cheerfulness, in anticipation of a brighter and better exist- 
ence beyond the tomb. And why not? 

There is no death ! What seems so is transition; 

This life of mortal lireath 
Is but a suburb of the life elysian. 

Our departed friend so regarded it and did not fear the 
change. His death is an irreparable loss to his family, to 
his State, and to his country. But their loss was his gain. 
He sleeps the sleep of the just and will receive the reward 
of the faithful servant. 



136 Address of Mr. Szvauson of Virginia. 



Address of Mr. Swanson, 

Mr. Speaker: I do not rise to deliver a studied or elab- 
orate eulogy upon the distinguished Senator. That has 
been so well and eloquently done that I can add nothing 
to what has been said. I only rise to place upon his grave 
in behalf of myself and people a modest chaplet of love 
and esteem. 

The people of no section heard with more profound 
resfret and sorrow the death of the late distinguished Sen- 
ator from North Carolina than those whom I have the 
honor to represent upon this floor. No people loved him 
more than we loved him; none admired him more than we 
admired him; none have experienced more than we his 
kind offices and generous aid. When to subserve partisan 
purposes the Senate of the United States, by a pretended 
investigation, inaugurated by a recreant Senator from Vir- 
ginia, sought to blacken the fair name and asperse the 
character of the good people of Danville and my district, 
we found in Senator Vance our brave champion and our 
valiant defender. That gratitude which is the richest and 
rarest flower that sheds its perfume on the human heart 
will ever insure him our highest regard; encircle his name 
with garlands of deepest love and devotion. We feel to- 
ward him that deep personal affection and pride which 
animate the people of his own State. I wish I had the 
power this afternoon of voicing the tender love and admi- 
ration that my people entertain for this man. I wish my 



Life and Character of Zebzilon Baird Vance. 137 

power of speech was commensurate with and could do full 
justice to his splendid qualities of mind and heart. 

Senator Vance was a man whom to know was both to 
love and to admire. Affable, joyous, warm-hearted, kind, 
and generous, he was "tho very schoolboy of the heart." 
He possessed a genial flow of spirits, a witchery of wit and 
humor that was irresistible. His presence was sunshine. 
Vance always impressed me like the great State he rep- 
resented. North Carolina is largely composed of rich, 
broad, fertile fields and plains, and is decorated here and 
there with a wild picturesqueness and beauty of scenery 
unsurpassed. So with her great son; he was endowed 
with a strong, broad, masculine mind and heart, spark- 
ling with all the fascinations of wit and humor and glit- 
tering with all the coruscations of eloquence, pathos, and 
genius. 

Mr. Speaker, the greatest of all English novelists, in his 
masterpiece. Vanity Fair, has truly said that the world is 
a looking-glass and casts back to each man the reflection 
of his own face. If he smiles upon the world it smiles 
upon him. If he frowns upon it, it frowns upon him. If 
he hates it, it hates him. If he loves it, it loves him. 
How profoundly is this truth illustrated in the magnifi- 
cent career of the late distinguished Senator. He smiled 
upon the world with a tender smile, and it received him 
with open, loving arms. He loved humanity and the 
world, and he died the idol of his people. He trusted the 
people, and with implicit confidence his people, in their 
hours of trial and gloom, placed with loving faith their 
hands in his and followed his leadership and guidance to 
sunshine and prosperity. 



138 Address of Mr. Szvanson of ]'irginia. 

His people showered upon him every trust, every honor 
which it was in their power to bestow. What a splendid 
career does his life present. Prosecuting attorney of his 
count>- at the age of twenty-two; member of the legisla- 
ture at twenty-four; Representative in the United States 
Congress at twenty-eight; a brave, distinguished soldier at 
thirty-one; elected governor of his State at thirty-two, to 
guide her through the storms and tempests of war; re- 
elected at thirty-four with the reputation of being the 
most distinguished and efficient of all the noted war gov- 
ernors. In 1870 elected to the United States Senate, but 
being- refused admission, he returned to his State and sue- 
cessfully engaged in the practice of law until 1876, when, 
by the universal call of his party, he again offered for 
governor, and in the memorable campaign of that year 
redeemed his State from the corrupt and miserable gov- 
ernment which reconstruction had placed upon her. In 
1878 he was elected to the United States Senate, and 
from that time to his death he served as one of the most 
beloved, talented, and distinguished members of that body. 

Few public men, few statesmen have experienced a life 
so crowded with great and grave responsibilities, so re- 
splendent with success and honors. His public career, 
extending from prosecuting attorney to United States Sen- 
ator, each year exhibited a broadening in reputation, in 
power and usefulness. 

Mr. Speaker, Carlyle, in his splendid essay on Voltaire, 
has truly said that the life of every man is as the well- 
spring of a stream, whose small beginnings are indeed 
plain to all, whose ultimate course and destination, as it 
winds through the expanse of infinite years, only the 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird J^ance. 139 

Omniscient can discern. Will it mingle' with the neigh- 
boring rivnlets as a tribntciry or receive them as their sov- 
ereign? Is it to be a nameless brook, and will its tiny 
waters among millions of other brooks and rills increase 
the cnrrent of some world-famed river? Or is it to be 
itself a Rhine, a Dannbe, an Amazon, whose goings forth 
are to the uttermost land, its floods an everlasting boundary 
line on the globe itself, the bulwark and highway of whole 
kingdoms and continents. 

As to which a man's life shall be — whether a tiny stream 
or a magnificent river — depends largely upon one's talents, 
but more than all, his own efforts and ambition. Vance, 
possessed of high qualities of mind and splendid talents, 
aspiring and ambitious, chose to make and did make the 
stream of his life, as it ran with its pure waters to the 
great eternal ocean, a large and majestic river, known far 
and wide, fertilizing broad fields, enriching States, and 
carrying on its bosom rich treasures for his country and 
mankind. 



140 Address of Mr. CariitJi of Kentucky. 



Address of Mr. Caruth. 

Mr. Speaker: Scarcely had the echo of the last gun of 
our fratricidal war died out in the land, hardly had the 
smoke risen from the last battle plain; blood-smeared Bel- 
lona had but just fled and white-winged Peace returned 
from her banishment to reign in her stead, when it entered 
the patriotic minds of some of the residents of the city of 
my home to bring together on Kentucky soil representa- 
tive men of the North and of the South, who had so 
recently doffed the blue or the gray, to mingle together, to 
"shake hands across the bloody chasm," and to renew 
their vows of allegiance to the Union of the States under 
the victorious Stars and Stripes, 

It was appropriate that such a gathering should be held 
on Kentucky soil, for that State stood on the border land, 
tried to avert the threatened conflict, spoke words of con- 
ciliation and of peace. Her efforts were useless, her voice 
was unheeded, and from her blue-grass fields and her moun- 
tain fastnesses her brave sons rushed to the aid of the cause 
they had loved. Eighty thousand of her people enlisted on 
either side in that deadly conflict. Principle divided her 
people, dissension entered every household and separated 
father and son and brother and brother. She loved the 
Union as she loved the South. What better mediator for 
peace than she? What hand could more appropriately 
reach forth to bring together in peaceful unity the men of 
the North and the South than the hand of Kentucky? 

Animated by a desire to accomplish this great work, the 
patriotic people of Louisville brought to their hospitable 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird Vance. 141 

homes representative men of the North, men of impor- 
tance and inflnence in the South. In this notable gath- 
ering who could more appropriately mingle than Hon. 
Zebulon B. Vance, of North Carolina? A lover of his 
country, his influence had been exerted, his eloquent voice 
had been raised against the dismemberment of the Union, 
and it was only after his efforts failed that he, with the 
o-reatest reluctance and the deepest sorrow, followed his 
beloved North Carolina into the Southern Confederacy. 
It is needless to say that on the occasion referred to no 
voice pleaded with more potent eloquence for the restora- 
tion of the Union on the principles of the Constitution 
than that of Governor Vance. Although I knew this 
dignified man by reputation, it was not until this occasion 
that I had the pleasure of personally meeting him, and 
from that time I admired and respected him. I was des- 
tined, however, to know him better, not only from the 
official, intercourse which a member of the House neces- 
sarily has with a member of the Senate, but because also 
it v/as to Kentucky and to the county of my home that 
Governor Vance afterwards came to select his life com- 
panion. It was a fortunate selection for him, for she was 
one of the fairest, brightest, most gifted daughters of Ken- 
tucky. She became indeed his helpmate— a wife devoted 
to her husband. 

Ever on the watch to borrow 

Mirth of his mirth, and sorrow of his sorrow. 

From the fact of this union, Kentucky has claimed a 
deep interest in this distinguished man, and watched his 
career with affectionate pride. In the hour of mourning, 
sorrowing over the affliction which has come to the heart 
and home of her gifted daughter, Kentucky claims the 



142 Address of Mr. Caritth of Kentucky. 

right to mingle her tears with those of bereaved North 
Carolina. 

What could I say of Zebulon B. Vance that all Amer- 
ica does not know? Shall I speak of his patriotism? His 
devotion to his country and his State is part of the history 
of the trying period of the civil war. Reluctantlv he left 
this House to enter the army of his native State, and be- 
came a colonel in the Confederate service. He laid down 
the sword to assume executive control of the affairs of his 
State. He was North Carolina's war governor, sustained 
throughout this fierce conflict the supremacy of the civil 
over the military law, and when the end came his voice 
was raised in behalf of peace and a restored Union. All 
this the world knows. 

Shall I speak of him as a statesman? Do not all the 
people of the United States know the story of his work 
in the halls of legislation in behalf of his State and his 
country? Twice a Representative in this House, thrice 
governor of his native State, four times chosen Senator! 
Whose civic career is more distinguished than this? 

Shall I speak of him as an orator? What words of mine 
could do justice to his fame? He was, indeed, gifted \\n\\\ 
eloquence. On the hustings his voice rang out with per- 
suasive power and molded "the thoughts of man}- into 
one," and in the legislative halls "listening senates hung 
upon his tongue." In modern times there has appeared 
in the Republic no more thoroughly equipped or better 
prepared debater and orator than Zebulon B. Vance. 

Shall I speak of him as a man? Those who knew him 
best have borne the strongest testimony to his worth. 
Born in the Old North State, with his ashes buried in her 
soil, North Carolina says to the world: "He was my 



Life and Character of Zebitlon Baird Vance. 143 

beloved son; I twice sent him to the National House of 
Representatives. I then made him my governor, and four 
times I elected him a Senator in Congress. Never did I 
before so honor one of my citizens; he was always true, 
always worthy. I honored myself in honoring him." 

Let me borrow in this connection the very eloquent lan- 
guage of his colleague, Senator Ransom, who, in speaking 
of him on a similar occasion to this in the Senate, said: 

What Tell was to Switzerlainl, what Bruce was to Scotland, what William of 
Orange was to Holland, I had almost said what Moses was to Israel, VANCE was 
to North Carolina. I can give you but a faint idea of the deep, fervid, exalted 
sentiment which our people cherished for their greatest tribune. He was of them. 
He was one of them. He was with them. His thoughts, his feelings, his words 
were theirs. He was their shepherd, their champion, their friend, their guide, 
blood of their blood, great, good, noble, true, hmiian like they were in all respects, 
no better, but wiser, abler, with higher knowledge and profounder learning. 

Nor was this unsurpassed devotion unreasonable or without just foundation. 
For more than the third of a century, for upward of thirty years, in peace and in 
war, in prosperity and in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, he had stood by them 
like a brother— a defender, a preserver, a deliverer. He was their martyr and 
had suffered for th»ir acts. He was their shield and had protected them from 
evil and from peril. He had been with them — he had been with them and their 
sons and brothers on the march, by the camp fires, in the burning light of battle; 
beside the wounded and the dying; in their darkest hours, amid hunger and cold 
and famine and pestilences, his watchful care had brought them comfort and 
shelter and protection. 

***** 

In defeat, amid tumult, amid ruin, humiliation, and the loss of all they had, he 
had been their adviser, he had guided them through the wilderness of their woes 
and brought them safely back to their rights and all their hopes. He had been to 
them like the north star to the storm-tossed and despairing mariner. He had 
been greater than Ulysses to the Greeks. He had preserved their priceless honor, 
had saved their homes, and was the defender of their liberties. He was their 
benefactor. Every object around them reminded them of his care, every mem- 
ory recalled, every thought suggested his usefulness and their gratitude. 

The labors of his useful, brilliant life are over, the tri- 
umphs of earth are ended in death, but the memory of his 
deeds, the story of his career, will not only live in history, 
but tradition will hand them down from sire to son to the 
remotest generations of our people. His fame is immortal. 



144 Address of Mr. Bryan of Nebraska. 



Address of Mr. Bryan. 

Mr. Speaker: We are called upon on these occasions 
to speak of the virtues of many different types of men. 
Sometimes one is taken from us who has spent the most of 
his davs in private business and has come to these Halls to 
crown with public honors a busy life. Sometimes we are 
called to mourn a man taken from us in the very begin- 
ning of his career, and consider what he might have 
accomplished had he lived. But it is seldom that, in 
either of these Halls, we find a man whose life was so com- 
pletely given to public service as was the life of Senator 
Vance. He began his public career when he was a young 
man, barely of age, and he was a public servant from that 
time, almost without a pause, until his earthly life was 
ended. In the history of our country I think we shall find 
few men as remarkable. When a man is elected once or 
twice and disappears, we may attribute his success to cir- 
cumstances; but when a man begins, as Mr. Vance began, 
a young man, and retains the confidence of those whom he 
served for a generation, we must conclude that his success 
is due to something more than chance or accident. 

Senator Vance was "a leader among men." Few in 
our day or in our history even have better earned that 
designation than Zebulon B. Vance. He was a leader 
among men — and naturally so. He had those character- 
istics which could not fail to make him a leader, not self- 
appointed, but chosen by common consent. He was a 



Life and CJiaractcr of Zebu Ion Baird I'ance. 145 

wise man. He was able to estimate causes and calculate 
effects. He was able to foresee what would come to pass, 
because he understood men — that is necessary in a leader. 
We rely upon the Infinite because we are finite. We feel 
the limitations of our own knowledge and we long to find 
someone who knows more and can see farther thafi we. 
Among men, we naturally turn to the one who can foresee 
events, as a child turns to a parent for advice. It was not 
the experience of age which he possessed; it was a sort of 
intuitive judgment, an instinct for truth, that made him 
see in advance what others only found out afterwards. 

It has been mentioned here to-day that when the late 
civil war was about to break out he was able to survey the 
whole ground and to see what would be the necessary re- 
sult, and that he told his people what that result would be. 
He did this, too, when a young man, a man younger than 
any of us who are on this floor to-day, and time proved his 
wisdom. So, coming on down, as each new crisis arose, as 
each new force began its work upon society, he seemed to 
be able to calculate what was coming, and every time his 
judgment was justified by events his hold upon popular 
confidence increased. 

When the Fifty-third Congress was convened in extra 
session in August, 1893, no man in this country more 
clearly foresaw the course of events and more clearly pre- 
dicted the results of the proposed financial policy. He 
talked with his associates; he wrote to his people; he told 
them just what the effect would be upon the party with 
which he was identified and whose name he loved. 

Not only was he a wise man, but he was a courageous 
man. And that is a characteristic, too, that is essential 
S Mis 151 10 



146 Address of Mr. Bryan of Nebraska. 

in the man who is to be a leader of men. He had the 
courage to assume responsibilit}'. He shirked no duty. 
What he believed he said, and he was willing to stand or 
fall by the correctness of his conclusions. Jefferson, in 
speaking of some man, said that he had not learned the 
sublime truth that a bold, unequivocal virtue is the best 
handmaid even unto ambition. Zebulon B. Vance had 
learned that sublime truth. He knew that a bold, un- 
equivocal virtue is the best handmaid unto ambition, and 
that, while trimming one's sails to catch a passing breeze 
may help temporarily, there is nothing which is perma- 
nently of aid to a public man except standing bv his 
convictions. I have no doubt he had ambition; but from 
what I have been able to read and learn of him it was 
an ambition which is laudable, an ambition which every 
man in this country may well possess, an ambition to do 
his duty everywhere, an ambition to deserve well, to have 
what he deserved and nothing- more. 

He had more than wisdom and courage; he had that 
without which wisdom and courage would have been of no 
avail. He loved the people whom he would lead. And 
it w^as no condescending love either. It was no stooping 
down to someone beneath him. He really believed in 
the equality of men and that those among whom he asso- 
ciated were his brethren. He shared their hopes, their 
aims, and their ambitions. He felt their woes and he 
knew their joys. He was one of them, and the people 
loved him because they knew that he loved them. They 
trusted him because they knew that he trusted them. 
And in building upon the affections of the people he built 
upon the onlv sure foundation. 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird J^ance. 147 

It has been said that the most sincere tribute that can be 
paid to a man is that which is paid at his grave. Some 
may fear a man while he lives, and therefore show him 
attention; or others may want to court his favor. When 
we see apparent friendship for the great we do not always 
know what motive may be behind it. But when a man is 
dead and is impotent longer to injure or to aid, when men 
gather around his grave and manifest their love, then we 
know that their affection is disinterested. And I believe it 
can be said that no man in this country ever enjoyed the 
sincere affection of a larger proportion of the people whom 
he served than Mr. Vance. 

But he was not only a leader of men, he was an orator of 
great influence. Not that on dress parade he was the best 
man to put up for a public speech, but he was one of the 
great orators because he possessed two of the character- 
istics of the orator; he knew what he was talking about 
when he talked, and he believed what he said. He who 
believes what he says will move others; and he who knows 
what he is talking about will convince others. Not only 
did he impart knowledge surcharged with earnestness, but 
he possessed rare ability in making the truth pleasant to 
receive. 

He was a statesman as well as a leader of men and an 
orator. As a statesman he was devoted to his work. As 
a statesman he was prepared to make every sacrifice for 
which his position called. As a statesman he was ready to 
give to every call that conscientious response which duty 
required. As a statesman he was pecuniarily honest. 
There is nothing in the life of Mr. Vance that I prize 
more than the fact that with all his ability, with all his 



148 Address of Mr. Bryan of Nebraska. 

knowledge, with all his influence, no person can say that 
he ever sold his influence, his ability, or his support for 
money. No person can say that on any occasion he ever 
surrendered the interests of the people as he understood 
those interests for hope of gain. 

Sometimes people speak sneeringly of legislators. Some- • 
times they speak as if there were no such thing as honesty 
among legislators. Some people talk as if every man has 
his price, as if all that is necessary is to offer enough 
money and the influence of any man who is serving in 
official position can be purchased. I do not believe that 
the worst enemy that Mr. Vance ever had would say of 
him that an}' amount of money, however great, could have 
purchased his vote, his voice, or his influence. And that a 
man with his commanding ability, whose official life began 
at the very dawn of manhood and continued through all the 
conspicuous positions within the gift of his countrymen, 
should successfully resist all pecuniary temptations and die 
poor is, I think, one of the proudest of his achievements. 

IMr. Speaker, there are things in this life more valuable 
than money. The wise man said three thousand years 
ago, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold." We 
struo-ele, we sacrifice, and we toil in order to leave to our 
children a fortune; but I believe that Senator Vance has 
left to his widow and to his children a greater, a more 
valuable heritage than he could possibly have left had he 
given to them all the money which one man ever accu- 
mulated in this world. When he left to them a name 
untarnished, when he left to them a reputation such as he 
earned and bore, he left to them that which no wealth can 



Life and Oiaracter of Zcbitlon Baird I'ance. 149 

purchase and that which no one who possesses it would 
part with for money. I am not skilled in the use of obit- 
uary adjectives, and did not rise to give a review of his life, 
but I beg to place on record my tribute of profound respect 
for a public servant who at the close of his career was able 
to say to the people for whom he toiled, "I have lived in 
your presence for a lifetime; I have received all my honors 
at your hands; I stand before you without fear that anyone 
can charge against me an official wrong." I say, to such 
a man I pay my tribute of respect. 



150 Address of Mr'. Warner of New York. 



Address of Mr. Warner. 

Mr. Speaker: It has fallen to others, sir, to speak of Sen- 
ator Vance from the standpoint of long association and . 
intimate personal acquaintance. In the brief tribute which 
I shall pay to his memory I shall speak rather for those 
who watched his career from afar, and who had learned to 
trust in him as one of the standard bearers of the catise 
in which as private citizens they cast their ballots year 
after year. 

It was in the troublous days of reconstruction, sir, that 
we of the North first knew of him. We then heard of 
him as one of those extraordinary young men of whom 
North Carolina has had so many. District attorney of his 
county as soon as he became of age; elected member of his 
State house of commons before his term of district attor- 
ney was over; elected to Congress at twenty-six, and kept 
there until he entered the Confederate army; made colonel 
at thirty-one, in three months after his enlistment, and 
elected governor of his State a year later, at the age of 
thirty-two; sent to the Senate in 1870, but refused admis- 
sion there, we had learned to consider Governor Vance 
as the incarnation of North Carolina and North Carolina as 
the State of Governor Vance; and we were confirmed in 
this when, after being elected a third time governor, he 
was again sent to the Senate, this time taking his seat. 

And it was but a short time, sir, before we began to 
know him as one of the chosen few upon whom we could 
always depend to fight the fight and keep the faith of the 



Life and CJiaractcr of Zcbiilon Baird J'ance. 151 

great national part}- he so long and so well served. We of 
the North counted every year more and more on Senator 
Vance, and every year we found our faith better justified. 

And when, in i8go, as the great Senator from Kentucky 
was stricken with mortal illness, we saw Senator Vance, 
worn and suffering, taking his place in the thickest of the 
fight, he became thenceforth our rock of reliance; and not 
merely in the Old North State of the South but through- 
out the North we gloried in his pluck and prayed for his 
health. 

Such, sir, was the confidence, such were the fears with 
which we were inspired when, but a little more than a 
year ago, we anxiously awaited his return to the place 
where he was so sorely missed. The crisis was at hand 
of the long struggle in which he had so long fought. If 
there was any man who had earned the right to lead the 
battle in the Senate, if there was one upon whom his 
part}- and his country had specially counted, that man was 
Senator Vance. 

But death claimed him. 

I shall not attempt, sir, to find consolation for his loss. 
In the crisis in which it occurred, in view of the long bal- 
ance and dubious issue of the events in which we needed 
his aid, and lacked it, we can only bow to what must 
be. He was stricken down just when his arm was most 
needed; we lost his aid just when it would have availed 
us most; and the coranach of Duncan found its echo in our 
hearts : 

He is gone on the mountain, 

He is lost to the forest, 
Like a summer-dried fountain. 

When our need was the sorest. 



152 Address of Mr. lJ\irner of N'eiv York. 

He died too soon — not for liimself, for fame had already 
written full the record of his busy life, but for his State, 
his country, and his party, that he had served so long and 
so well in field and in council; as a soldier, without fear; as 
a statesman, without variableness or shadow of turning; 
as a man among men, whose presence warmed and cheered 
everv fellow-mortal w^honi he touched. 



Life ajtd Character of Zebulon Baird Vance, 153 



Address of Mr, Bunn. 

Mr. Speaker: In that sweetest and tenderest, most sub- 
lime, and most beautiful love tragedy that was ever writ- 
ten — the thrilling, the heart-moving, the soul-electrifying 
play of Romeo and Juliet — IMercutio, the wit of that play, 
is made to say, when he had received a fatal wound in 
his breast by the hand of Tybalt, '"Tis not so deep as a 
well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill 
serve. ' ' 

And so the wound of bereavement which has been made 
in the hearts of his countrymen by that cruel dagger, 
Death, which removed from time to immortality the spirit 
of the lamented Vance, is deeper than the soundless 
depths of old Ocean and broader than the whole Christian 
Church, and it will remain there until the last ripple in 
the river of Time has been mingled with the waves in the 
ocean of Eternity. 

And now, ]\Ir. Speaker, in coming to pay my humble 
but sincere and heart-nursed tribute to transcendent worth 
and exalted greatness and loftiest excellence, I feel the pov- 
erty of human expression and the weakness of strongest 
language, for words, however expressive and graphic, are 
at best but poorest vehicles for the transmission of those 
feelings, when the heart is swept by the rushing billows of 
grief that sweep o'er the ocean of an overwhelming bereave- 
ment. And so, my tongue is in the coffin of Vance, and 
I can only bow my head and weep o'er the memories of 



154 Address of Mr. Bujui of A'^orth Carolina. 

him who is now sleeping where the myrtles grow and the 
daisies peep. 

But, Mr. Speaker, I must attempt a tribute to his worth 
and express my grief at the loss which our country has 
sustained in his untimely death. I say untimely, for he 
went down in the hour of his greatest usefulness, when 
his magnificently equipped mental forces were most ad- 
mirably trained and drilled and disciplined and in fullest 
and strongest vigor. But he went down like the blazing 
meteor, more brilliant and dazzling and resplendent in its 
downward coruscations than when in pristine glory and 
unsullied radiance it first glistened in the firmament with 
planets; for our grandly panoplied Senator was ascending 
into the zenith of his glory; his last service was the most 
brilliant, his last speeches his greatest and his best, and 
they wall crown his career with a halo of renown that will 
never lose the richness of its effulgence or the brilliancy 
of its beaming. 

Yes; he died when his mind was in the noontide of its 
richest brilliancy and his power in the very summer of 
its lustiest vigor. He passed away when his splendid abili- 
ties were in greatest demand and when his sage counsels 
were most needed. And his loss is irreparable, for he was a 
true patriot and a broad-gauged statesman, and being so 
thoroughly versed in the affairs of government his saga- 
cious counsels and ripe experience were indeed most needed 
in this trying ordeal of our political history. His death at 
such a time did indeed produce a shock that was felt all 
over the country, for while we all knew that he was in 
feeble health and was perhaps nearing that glorious sunset 
whose gorgeous beauties are but the undinnned reflections 



Life and Character of Zehiilon Baird Wince. 155 

of celestial splendor, yet his death was so sudden that we 
could scarcely realize that the brawny-brained statesman 
had ended his last debate, and that listening Senators 
would never more hang with rapt attention upon the 
wholesome words that fell from his eloquent tongue. 

Senator Vaxce was perhaps the most many-sided and 
admirably rounded public man of this century. He was 
not only a man of magnificent ability and richest intellec- 
tual resources, but he was a speaker of rarest eloquence 
and the most thrilling and electrifying oratory. His stir- 
ring appeals were as sweeping as the winds when forests 
are rended and as resistless as the billows of the sea when 
navies are stranded. He was, indeed, a grand, powerful, 
intellectual giant, and on the stump the most admirably 
fortified men of this age dreaded the sweep of his logic, the 
vigor of his eloquence, the fiery outbursts of his dramatic 
oratory, and the withering fires of his burning invective. 

In the fields of literary culture and classic research he 
was indeed superb, for his speeches, while containing 
golden nuggets of ripest wisdom, sparkled with gems of 
richest humor and glistened with the auroral lights of the 
finest poetic fancy. Thousands have been charmed and 
enchanted with the richly blooming flowers of his poetic 
gardens and lulled and soothed by the rhythmic flow 
of his gracefully winding current of mellifluent rhetoric. 
All of his speeches were forceful in their presentation of 
truth and facts, noble in their ethical teachings of duty 
to country, luscious with the mellowest fruitage of lofty 
patriotism, opulent with the gems of successfully garnered 
wisdom, kingly in the imperial sweep of their royal elo- 
quence, and regal in the magnificent drapery of the most 



156 Address of Mr. Biinn of XortJi Carolina. 

ornate diction. They will prove monuments to the fame 
of Senator \\\xcE more lastino^ than marble, for on the 
adamantine and invulnerable surface of their imperishable 
worth, unequaled merit, superb splendor, and magnificent 
beauty the corroding and devastating moth of decay will 
never fix a fang. 

And the people loved him because his big, generous, 
sympathetic heart w^as always responsive to every touch of 
sorrow and distress, and ever ready to vibrate with tender- 
est strains of solace and commiseration; and so when the 
sad news of his death was sent on the quivering bosom of 
the electric current throughout his native State it opened 
the floodgates to the briniest waters in the stream of hu- 
man bereavement, for all felt that one of North Carolina's 
truest and noblest and grandest sons had been stricken 
down like a flower in fullest bloom and beauty. And 
those who followed that funeral train as it took him to his 
last resting place in the mountains, and witnessed the spon- 
taneous demonstrations of grief that gushed from the loyal 
hearts of the old and the young, the high and the low, 
the rich and the poor, must have realized that the depth 
of love and fervor of devotion felt and shown for him was 
never before manifested for any other man in the histor\- of 
my State. 

And the people loved him, too, because he was true to 
them. In season and out of season his voice was ever 
ready to uphold their interests and defend their rights. 
He was in touch with them, and they could always hear 
the beating of his great heart and listen to the music of 
its throbbings and from its inspiring strains find solace for 
the ills of the present and hope in the promises of the 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird lance. 157 

future. And so he became their idol, and they followed 
him most blindly. And he never deceived or misled 
them, for his life was as an open book and its pages could 
be read by all. And on those pages there were no blurs 
or blots or blemishes; all pure and bright and stainless 
and flawless. 

He was the soul of honor, the very embodiment of hon- 
esty. He had the courage of his convictions, and every- 
body knew how and where he stood, for he was free and 
bold in the expression of his views and opinions. And 
yet, bold and aggressive as he was in political combat, his 
heart was tender and sympathetic, and in all of his deal- 
ino-s with the weak and defenseless he was the very per- 
sonification of womanly tenderness and forbearance; and 
no one could surpass him in those gentle amenities which 
o-ive such a charm to manhood and such a glorious light to 
true greatness. 

These are some of the virtues which emblazon his char- 
acter and which will shine forever in that fadeless and 
imperishable coronet that will crown the lustrous brow of 
the illustrious Vanx^e. 

But, alas! this stately oak, the very monarch in the 
forest of humanity, with all of its widespreading and luxu- 
riant branches of intellectual adornment, bathing in the 
glad, warm sunlight of affectionate esteem and idolatrous 
admiration, has been stricken down by the inevitable bolt 
of death, and he now sleeps in the peaceful hush of the 
quiet grave. But men may stalk across the stage of exist- 
ence and make reputation as bright and as radiant as the 
blush of a dewdrop under the trembling kiss of a morning 
sunbeam, but never will the brilliancy of his reputation be 



158 Address of Mr. Bunn of N^orth Carolina. 

surpassed by mortal man, and never will his name hold a 
second place on the tablet that recites the glories of intel- 
lectual splendor; and though he has gone from us forever, 
yet he has left behind him an example and an influence 
and a memory that will prove a blessing to his country' and 
a benediction to his people, for their radiant light will blaze 
for our guidance the glorious path of patriotic duty he so 
nobly trod and encourage us to live like him who has 
gone to his God. 

Yes; he has left behind a radiant stream of effulgent 
glory. Like the brilliant sun, which sinks behind the 
distant hilltops and leaves behind a golden stream of gor- 
geous splendors, making the whole western horizon seem 
as if the most opulent dye pots in the studio of the angels 
had been upset and had leaked through upon the clouds, 
thus giving them the tintings of celestial glories, so his 
sun of existence has sunk behind the hilltops of death and 
left behind a stream of memories that will never fade from 
the tablets of our hearts. Unlike the glories of the setting 
sun, which soon lose their gorgeous colorings in the bosom 
of darkness, his resplendent virtues will not lose their bril- 
liancy in the shadows of death's dark night, for the}- were 
dug from mines of richest and purest ore, and bright in 
glory's jeweled throne they will shine for evermore. 

On Fame's eternal camping ground 

His silent tent is spread, 
And glor)' guards with solemn round 

The bivouac of our dead. 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Vance. 159 



Address of Mr. Alexander 

]\Ir. Speaker: Comparatively few great men have had 
such a checkered career as the late Senator Zebulon B. 
Vance. I will give only so much of his history as will 
show that during the changing conditions of societv he was 
always the trusted leader of his people. He was born Alay 
13, 1830, in Buncombe County, N. C. His early life was 
uneventful, not differing from that of the friends of his 
boyhood. 

His educational advantages were not the best, but fairly 
good. He was admitted to practice law in the county 
courts in December, 185 1, elected county solicitor for Bun- 
combe County in May, 1852, and admitted to practice in 
the superior courts in August, 1853. He was elected 
to the house of commons of North Carolina in 1856, and to 
the United States Congress in 1858, and reelected in i860. 
During this period he was an ardent Whig, and devoted to 
the Union. In 1861 he resigned his seat in Congress, and 
volunteered in the service of North Carolina and the Con- 
federate States to fight as a soldier, actuated by the same 
spirit that prompted his fellow-citizens to engage in the 
war. They had to fight upon one side or the other, and 
preferred to cast their lot with the Southern States. He 
was elected captain of his company, and soon after was 
elected colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regi- 
ment. He served with distinction in the battles of New- 
bern, N. C. , the seven days before Richmond, and Malvern 
Hill. 



i6o Address of Mr. Alexander of A\vtJi Carolina. 

In Ang-ust, 1862, the people of North Carolina recalled 
him from the tented field and placed him in the governor's 
chair, and it was here that he exhibited that great execu- 
tive ability that made him so well known throngh the Con- 
federate States as the great war governor. His foresight in 
buying the Advance^ a ship that repeatedly ran the block- 
ade at Wilmington, N. C. , freighted with blankets, cloth- 
ing, boots, and shoes for the North Carolina soldiers and 
many articles of necessity for the people of the State, ren- 
dered him the idol of the soldier as well as the citizen at 
home. Again, in August, 1864, he was elected governor, 
and the closing days of the Confederacy further demon- 
strated the greatness of his executive ability. 

After the surrender of the Confederate armies, in May, 
1865, he was arrested by the military forces of the United 
States and brought to the city of Washington, D. C., and 
imprisoned in the Old Capitol. Some time afterwards he 
was released on parole and permitted to return to North 
Carolina. He moved with his family to Charlotte, N. C, 
and commenced the practice of law, and he proved him- 
self to be one of the ablest advocates that bar has ever 
had. The National Republican party, controlling the Na- 
tional Government during the period of reconstruction, 
disfranchised a sufficient number of white people to give 
the newly organized Republican party, composed chiefly of 
carpetbaggers and negroes, control of the State. 

The white people, believing that their civilization was 
threatened, combined under the name of the Conservative 
Democratic party, and in 1870 they redeemed the State. 
Though the late Senator Vance was still disfranchised, 
his wise counsel aided materially in securing that great 



Life and CJiaractcr of Zcbuloii Baird Vance. i6i 

victory. The legislature, recognizing the valuable service 
he had rendered, elected him to the United States Senate; 
but his disabilities not having been removed by Congress, 
he was not permitted to take his seat. In 1872 he was de- 
feated for the same office by the friends of ex-Senator Mer- 
rimon combining with the Republicans. In 1876, after 
the greatest political contest that has ever occurred in the 
State, he was elected governor for the third time by a flat- 
tering vote. 

In 1879 he was again elected to the United States Sen- 
ate, reelected in 1885, and again in 1891. His death oc- 
curred in April, 1894. I think I but state the truth in say- 
ing that at the time of his death he had a greater hold 
upon the affections of the people of North Carolina than 
at any time during his life. A leader of the Whigs or 
Unionists, one of the great leaders of the Confederacy, 
and after reconstruction a great leader of the Democracy, 
as attested by his being reelected governor and four times 
United States Senator, is a record that proves — 

Act well your part, there all t!ie honor lie.s. 

In my opinion, the great secret of his success was his 
intense earnestness and great ability in carrying out the 
principles contended for. He never wavered or faltered in 
a fight. He guarded the interests of the people so well 
that their confidence in his integrity and honesty was 
unbounded. The)- knew that he would never — 

Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 
Where thrift may follow fawning. 

Few public men were so fortunate as to have so few per- 
sonal enemies. Kind, generous, and sympathetic, gifted 

S Mis 151 1 1 



i62 Address of Mr. AIexa7ider of North Carolina. 

with a rare fund of wit and humor, he gained the friend- 
ship of nearly every one with whom he came in contact. 
Having been in feeble health for many months, his death 
was not unexpected. Yet his death came at a time when 
his people most needed his wise counsel to pilot them 
through the political trouble then distracting the State. 
Others have told how the sad news of his death was re- 
ceived by his people, and the great sorrow exhibited by 
them as his colleagues carried his bier to the capital of his 
State, and thence to Asheville, and placed it in a sepulcher 
near his kindred and friends. North Carolina has lost her 
brightest jewel, and her people have seen their "guide 
star" struck from the political firmament. 



Life and Character of Zebidon Baird Vance. 163 



Address of Mr. Branch, 

Mr. Speaker: During my four years of service in the 
House the occasions have been frequent in either hall of 
Congress when solemn services like these have been held to 
pay the last act of respectful duty to the memory of some 
departed member. These occurrences can but warn us of 
the precarious tenure by which we hold to the fleeting 
things of time and teach the impressive lesson of instabil- 
it>- of human life. It is a happy thing for a country, Mr. 
Speaker, when the lives of its public men can be thrown 
freelv open to the world and challenge its closest scrutiny 
with a consciousness upon the part of the friendh- critic 
that there is no blot to be concealed and no glaring fault 
which a love of truth forbids him to deny and his own 
sense of right scarcely allows him to palliate. 

Of all public men I have known there are none whose 
lives teach us more impressively the great moral of the 
strength which public virtue gives than that of Zebulon 
Baird Vance. Here at least is a public man in whose life 
there can be found no mean or equivocating action, none 
• of a departure from the self-imposed restraints of a lofty 
sense of honor; none in which either the fear of man, the 
seductions of ambition, or the allurements of pecuniary 
advancement could tempt to a deed which would destroy 
his own self-respect or the respect of others for him. He 
knew how to inspire a people with a just confidence in 
the soundness of his judgment and integrity of his pur- 
pose, so as to be looked to as a safe depository of trust and 
confidence. 



164 Addiess of Mr. Branch of Xortli Caro/hia. 

His popularity was not the result of those factious aids 
which give to demagogues and political tricksters an exist- 
ence, but was the natural consequence of his exalted quali- 
ties of both head and heart. Under such circumstances it 
is not surprising that each step in the political career of 
such a man should have been crowned with public honors. 
Amid all the fluctuations of public sentiment, amid all the 
changes of party, tried in times of war as well as peace, he 
was found pursuing the path of duty by the light of princi- 
ple, and dying, he has left behind him a life of consistency 
and public virtue upon which the patriot may ponder with 
pleasure, and from which the mere aspirant for worldlv 
honor may draw an instructive lesson. 

His life is a true illustration that the line of duty is alike 
the path of safety and the way to honor. During a long 
and eventful period a very large portion of his life was 
spent in the public service; for near half a century he 
devoted his energies and his talents to the performance of 
public duties, always performing his trust with fidelity and 
ability, and never failing to command the confidence, ad- 
miration, and gratitude of an enlightened constituency. 
How happy now the reflections of those who loved him 
most that there is not an act of his public life which can 
be referred to but to his honor; not a suspicion that could 
mar the purity and luster of his escutcheon. The remem- 
brance of the life and work of such a man should always 
be an inspiration ,to those who are to assume the duties he 
in his time so well performed. 

Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, one of the highest encomiums 
ever passed on a man in public life, said John Ouincy 
Adams, is that of an historian, eminent for his profound 



Life aiid Character of Zebulon liaird Vance. 165 

acquaintance with mankind, who, in painting a great char- 
acter by a single line, says: "He was just equal to all the 
duties of the higliest offices which he attained and never 
above them/' The possession of this rare political virtue 
was preeminently exemplified throughout the career of 
Zebulon B. Vance, who laid down his work without one 
stain upon his record, leaving as a priceless heritage to his 
family and his country a name synonymous with honesty 
and incorruptibility. 

It is a privilege and a sad pleasure, :\Ir. Speaker, to lay 
garlands upon the tomb of the honored dead in whose 
memory these ceremonies are held to-day. I shall not 
attempt to give a review or sketch of his eventful life, 
nor recite the many important incidents that mark his 
long, distinguished public career. Colleagues of mine who 
have preceded me have with admirable precision of detail 
and in eloquent, graceful terms of unexaggerated eulogy 
spoken of Zebulon B. Vance, who has left upon the his- 
toric annals of his State and country lasting and imperish- 
able evidences of his statesmanship and patriotism. 

He was a brave, generous, magnanimous man; every 
pulsation of his warm, unselfish heart was kindness and 
love for his fellow-man. The good of his State, the glory 
of her people, the honor and welfare of his country was 
the polar star ever guiding him. His thoughts were of 
his State and her people. He saw her wide-extending 
fields of cotton and grain, her mines, her quarries, her 
factories, the hum of her wheels of industry, the songs of 
her workingmen— these were his thoughts. He knew the 
privations, the trials, the struggles of his people. To make 
the burden lighter, their hearts happier, were thoughts 



t66 Address of Mr. Branch of North Carolina. 

that concerned him most, and while, Mr. Speaker, the 
addresses on this occasion can add nothing to the future 
happiness of the dead, can not augment the fame which 
his social virtues and his public career have earned, they 
tell the world that a republic can be grateful to those who 
have done her service, and that the citizens of a republic 
can appreciate the gentle qualities which give dignity and 
honor to a statesman's life and insure peace and consola- 
tion to a Christian's death. 

A great man has fallen; it is fit we mourn him, indulg- 
ing the hope that the light of his example may long 
continue to illuminate the paths of the future representa- 
tives of the State which honored and loved him as the 
swiftest in the race of ambition to serve her, the strongest 
in the strife for her supremacy, a State which now holds 
his remains and will ever cherish his memory. 



Life and Charadrr of Zebulon Baird I'ancc. 167 



ADDRESS OF MR. BOWER OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
Mr. Speaker: All that panegyric can bestow has been 
accorded to him whose distingnished life and melancholy 
death we to-day commemorate. The tongue of the orator, 
the pen of the historian, and, what would have been more 
to the illustrious dead, the love-inspired eloquence of his 
immediate fellow-citizens, have proclaimed and recorded 
his distinguished deeds and exalted station. In the pres- 
ence of his stupendous merit common adulation blushes 
into silence, and genuine appreciation would be mute. 
Discarding fulsome flattery, it may truthfully be said of 
him that he was the greatest of all North Carolinians. If 
asked in what respect greatest, let each honest admirer 
answer for himself according to what his own ideal of true 
greatness may be, for his greatness was full-measured and 
many-sided. If called upon to name the principal trait or 
talent that gave him such distinction, his friends would be 
widely apart in their views. On what rests his solid and 

enduring fame? 

The world has laughed and has been refreshed from the 
fountain of his quaint and inimitable humor. His anec- 
dotes and sallies of wit are quoted in almost every house- 
hold in his native State. In every family there yet lives 
some one to relate and recount his wonderful achievements 
upon the hustings; how this opponent was foiled; how 
that was overthrown by the keen thrust of apt and witty 
illustration. Perhaps he was best known as a humorist, 



i68 Address of Mr. Boiccr of North Carolina. 

and yet I may venture to suggest that his humor was 
only an incident and an instrumentality to more substan- 
tial qualities. As a ready and an agreeable debater he had 
few equals and no superiors. He grappled with a compre- 
hension broad and accurate the most abstruse political 
questions of his day, and it may be said that he never 
discussed such a question without at once elucidating 
and simplifying it. Under his manipulation the intricate 
questions of revenue and tariff legislation were brought 
within easy scope of ordinary intelligence and understand- 
ing. He never shot above the heads of his audience and 
never below. Whether addressing a grave and dignified 
Senate or speaking face to face with the sturdy yeomanry 
of his State, whose arms had borne him so often to victory 
and never to defeat, he was the same easy, forcible, and 
convincing orator. He never discussed a question that he 
did not thoroughh- understand, and hence never failed to 
be interesting and instructive. 

His public life was preeminently eventful and successful. 
Scarcely had he attained his majority when he was clothed 
with responsible judicial office. At the age of twenty-seven 
he had the honor of a seat in this Hall, defeating a gentle- 
man of great prominence in his State and changing the 
political complexion of the district from which he hailed. 
For a new and young member his standing in Congress 
was highly creditable. This was just prior to the civil war, 
and when that memorable struggle came on, though only 
thirty years of age, the eyes of his people were turned to 
him for guidance and leadership. Up to the time when 
his State seceded from the Union he had been an ardent 
Union man. but when the bond that united North Carolina 



Life and Character of Zcbiilon Baird Vance. 169 

with other States had been severed he hesitated no longer, 
but threw himself with all his soul into the contest which 
he had hoped to see averted, but which when inevitable 
received his hearty and unfaltering support. 

When the tocsin of war was sounded he was promptly 
at the front, and as colonel of the Twenty-sixth Regiment 
of North Carolina Volunteers, as gallant a troop as ever 
marched to battle, he gave promise of as much distinction 
in arms as afterwards awaited him in the civic field. But 
it was as the "war governor" of North Carolina that he 
reached the acme in the esteem and affection of his people. 
He was in every pulsation and fiber truly Southern, and 
in the role of governor at this critical period he showed 
forth to great advantage those splendid qualities of head 
and heart that make the ruler immortal and command 
the unalloyed pride and gratitude of the governed. Those 
who lead in times of greatest gloom and trial are those 
around whose memory cluster the most tender affections 
of an appreciative people. 

In the dark days of 1864 and 1865 he was the beacon 
light of hope and consolation, and when the sun of the 
Confederacy went out in the final eclipse he appeared as 
the first and brightest star in the new and upper firma- 
ment. It is not necessary to trace his career from the days 
of reconstruction to the close of his life. It is written 
upon every imperishable page that records the history of 
his State and nation. How he spurned the pelf of power 
and the lust and greed of office, " choosing rather to suffer 
affliction" with his people "than to enjoy the pleasures 
of sin for a season," how he drank the dregs of polit- 
ical humiliation and again tasted the sweets of political 



170 Address of Mr. Bower of NortJi Carolina. 

redemption, "these things are known and read of all " his 
countrymen. 

In the mag-nificent structure of his life and character a 
few of the salient features may be noted. And first and 
most prominent was the inborn rugged honesty that char- 
acterized his life from its beginning to its close. And 
when I speak of honesty I do not mean it in its narrow, 
restricted sense of meeting one's pecuniary obligations, 
though in this sense it may be remarked he lived an 
honest man and died a poor one. But I use the term in 
its broader acceptance, involving perfect candor and fair- 
ness in all his personal and political relations and dealings 
with his fellow-man. As a representative he never de- 
ceived nor attempted to deceive his constituency. How- 
ever embarrassing the strait or pressing the emergency, he 
"hewed to the line." He was no trimmer. He pursued 
no devious ways, but sought his object with courageous rec- 
titude in a straightforward, manly way. And yet, while he 
did not court, he did not spurn public sentiment. 

The secret of his great political strength and success 
was the grace with which he responded to a popular 
demand when no inconsistency or sacrifice of principle 
was involved. Another element in his composition was 
his intense patriotism and ardent love for the people of 
his State. He loved North Carolina with the fervor of a 
first love. Her tall mountains and beetling crags, her 
deep ravines and undulating valleys, her green fields, her 
babbling brooks, her bounding rivers caught the enrap- 
tured fancy of his youth and held with unljroken charm 
the ripe and mellowed heart of the man. To him no 
atmosphere so rare and bracing, no landscape so witching, 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird I'ance. 171 

no sky so blue as hers. No wonder the tired and wasted 
body in the throes of its impending dissolution should 
have sought the scenes of its early association and imbibed 
fresh vigor and renewed hope in every breath wafted from 
the misty mountain tops of his birthland. 

His solicitude for the welfare of his people knew not 
limitation or cessation. In every crucial period in his life 
he had taken them into his innermost sympathy and con- 
fidence. In the antebellum days of his budding greatness, 
at the twilight, and again at the midnight, of war's dread 
carnival, in the succeeding period of material depression 
and gloom, in victory and defeat, in sunshine and in 
storm, he was ever of them and with them. Through all 
the vicissitudes incident to a most eventful and thrilling 
public life he maintained his hold upon the popular heart 
as only a true patriot and matchless commoner could have 
done. x\s the solemn tidings of his death swept over the 
State every true North Carolinian felt as if a star of the 
first magnitude had suddenly been blotted from the heav- 
ens and the State had somehow grown commonplace and 
dull. He has gone from our sight forever, and we shall not 
see his like again. 



\-j2 Address of Mr, ll^oodard of North Carolina. 



Address of Mr. Woodard. 

Mr. Speaker: When Senator \\\nce died North Caro- 
lina lost its foremost citizen. He will go down in history 
as the greatest man the State has ever produced. The peo- 
ple gave him their highest honors. He was a member of 
the legislature four years; a member of this body, elected 
at the age of twenty-eight; elected governor at the age of 
thirt\--two; again elected governor at the age of thirty- 
four; elected United Senator in 1872, but refused admis- 
sion by the Republican Senate; elected governor in 1876; 
elected to the Senate in 1878, and a member of that body 
until his death. This is a brief summary of his public 
life. In these positions there is a record of over thirty-five 
years of continuous, faithful, and unselfish public service, 
and no man has ever lived in North Carolina who ever 
merited or received such love and confidence from the 
people. He was incomparably the most popular North 
Carolinian who ever lived. 

His commanding intellectual force and versatile genius 
would have won preeminence anywhere, but the true basis 
of his success and the secret of his marvelous popularity 
was to be found in the rugged honesty, the fearless frank- 
ness, the genial humor, and the sincere desire to promote 
the welfare of the people which characterized him. 

Senator Vance was a man of varied gifts. Elected to 
Congress when only twenty-eight years of age, he was soon 
recognized as one of the ablest and most brilliant men in 
that body. It was at this period of his life that Hon. 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Jajice. 173 

George E. Badger, then the ablest man in North Carolina, 
a United States Senator for many years, said to a friend, in 
speaking of the exciting canvass of i860, "You should 
hear Vance, the young Congressman from the mountain 
district. There never lived such a stump speaker as he." 
When Lincoln issued his call for troops Senator Vance 
enlisted as a private soldier in the Confederate army and at 
once went to the field. The people of his mountain dis- 
trict desired to elect him to the Confederate Congress, but 
he declined in the following letter to a friend: 

Heauquakters Twenty-sixth Regiment, N. C. Troops, 

Camp Btirgwyii, near Morehead City, September iS. 

Dear Sir: Your letter of the 2d instant, addressed to my brother, was for- 
warded by him and received this day. In it you ask, first, if I will be a candi- 
date for Congress, and, second, if not a candidate, will I consent for my name 
to be rune To both questions I answer in the negative. To this course I am 
impelled by what I consider the most cf)nclusive of reasons. 

You remember well the position I occupied upon the great (juestion wliich so 
lately divided the people of the .South. Ardently devoted to the old Union and 
the forms which the Federal fathers estal>lished, I clung to it so long as I thought 
there was a shadow of a hope of preserving, purifying, or reconstructing it. And 
you will also remember that in the last official communication I had the honor to 
make to my constituents as their Representative I pledged myself in case all our 
efforts for peace and justice at the hands of the North should fail that their cause 
was mine, their destiny was my destiny, and that all I ha 1 and was should be 
spent in their service. Those hopes did fail, as you know, signally and mis- 
erably fail; civil war was thrust upon the country and the strong arm of Northern 
despotism was stretched out to crush and subdue the Southern people. I imme- 
diately volunteered for their defense, in obedience not only to this promise, but 
also, as I trust, to patriotic instincts; and I should hold this promise but poorly ful- 
filled should I now, after having acquired sufiicient knowledge of military affairs 
to begin to be useful to my country, escape its obligations by seeking or even accep- 
ting a civil appointment. 

Certainly if tliere lives a man in North Carolina who ought to do all and suffer 
all for his country, I am that man. Since the tune of my entering upon man's 
estate the people have heaped promotion and honors, all undeserved, upon my 
head. In everything I have .sought, their generous confidence, their unfailing 
kindness have sustained me. Whilst I can never sufficiently repay it, 1 am 
determined, God helpmg me, to show them I was not altogether unworthy of 
their regard. I am therefore not a candidate for Congress, nor will I consent for 



174 Address of Mr. IVoodard of North Carolina. 

my name to l)e run. I am perfectly satisfied to be represented again liy the 
sound sense and sober judgment v,{ the gentleman who has so lately represented 
us at Richmond, or by a do/en gentlemen who live in our district not connected 
with the army, some of whom I hope the common peril and the common cause 
will induce our people to elect without bickering and strife. 

I can not close this hasty letter without assuring you that I am not insensible 
to the compliment conveyed by your own and a hundred other similar interroga- 
tions which have reached me from different parts of the district. No man can 
feel prouder or more grateful at such manifestations. Surely God has never 
blessed a man with more sterling and devoted friends than I can number in the 
mountain district ! May my name perish from the memory of my wife and 
children when I cease to remember these friends with gratitude. Among the 
many who liave adhered so faithfully to my poor fortune, through good and 
through evil report, I am always proud to remember you, unfalteringly and 
unmistakably. 

Please to accept, in conclusion, every assurance of my regard and good \\ishes 
for you and yours. 

Most truly yours, Z. V>. Vance. 

N. G. Allman, Es(j., Frank/ill. .V. C. 

He was elected captain of hi.s company and soon there- 
after colonel of his regiment, and his service in the army- 
was characterized by signal bravery and faithful devotion 
to the welfare of his troops. While in this service the 
eyes of the people of the State turned to him as the best 
man they could select for governor during this trying 
period in the State's history. After careful deliberation 
he accepted the nomination, and addressed the following 
letter to his life-long friend, Mr. E. J. Hale, the able editor 
of the then leading paper of the State, the Fayetteville 
Observer : 

HeAIJQUARTKRS TWE.\TY-SI.\i'll RE(^.IMENT, N. C. TROOI'S, 

Kinston, June i6, 1S62. 

Editors ok puk ()bskr\kr : A number of jiriinary meetings of the people and 
a respectable portion of tlie newspapers of the State having put forward my name 
for the office of governor, to which I may also add the reception of numerous 
letters to the same purport, I deem it jiroper that I should make some response to 
these flattering indications of confidence and regard. 

Believing that the only hope of the South depended upon the prosecution of the 
war al all liazards and to the utmost extremity so long as the foot of an invader 



Life and Character of Zebu Ion Baird l^ance. 175 

pressed Southern soil, 1 took the Held at an early day, with the determination to 
lemain there until our independence was achieved. My convictions in this 
retrard remain unchanged. In accordance therewith I have steadil)' and sincerely 
declined all promotion save that which placed me at the head of the gallant men 
whom I now command. A true man should, however, be willing to serve wher- 
ever the public voice may assign him. If, therefore, my fellow-citizens believe 
that I could serve the great cause better as governor than I am now doing, and 
should see jiroper to confer this great re.sponsibility upon me, without solicitation 
on my part, I should not feel at liberty to decline it, however conscious of my 
own unworthincss. 

In thus frankly avowing my willingness to labor in any position which may 
be thought best for the public good, I do not wish to be considered guilty of the 
affectation of indifference to the great honor which my fellow-citizens thus pro- 
pose to bestow upon me. On the contrary, I should consider it the crowning 
glory of my life to be placed in a position where I could most advance the inter- 
ests and honor of North Carolina, and, if necessary, lead her gallant sons against 
her foes. But I shall be content with the people's will. Let them speak. 

Sincerely deprecating the growing tendency toward party strife amongst our 
people, which every patriot should shun in the presence of the common danger, 
I earnestly pray for that unity of sentiment and fraternity of feeling which alone, 
with the favor of God, can enable us to prosecute this war for liberty and inde- 
pendence, against all odds and under every adversity, to a glorious and trium- 
phant issue. 

Very sincerely, yours, Z. B. \ .•\NCE. 

He was elected governor in 1862, and during the stormy 
period of these years he exhibited the highest executive 
ability in the discharge of the exacting duties of his posi- 
tion. He exalted personal liberty and its .safeguard. He 
equipped and sent to the Confederacy more men according 
to population than were furnished by any other Southern 
State. North Carolina soldiers were better clad, the peo- 
ple at home had more comforts of life, all due to his wise 
forethought in the exports of cotton to Europe and pur- 
chase of supplies in the European markets. So conspicu- 
ous were his services during these years that he became 
known throughout the South as the great war governor. 
He frequently visited the soldiers in their camp and was 
always a welcome and honored guest. A member of his 



1/6 Address of Mr. IVoodard of North Carolina. 

staff has \vritten a most graphic account of the visit of 
Governor VA^X'H to the Army of Northern Virginia. Says 
this gentleman: 

Among the most pleasant incidents of my service as a member of the governor's 
staff was a visit which I made with him to the Armv of Northern N'irginia in the 
winter of 1863. 

He was then a candidate for reelection to the guliernatorial chair, having filled 
it for one term with great eclat, hut being ojiposed by a certain faction at home, 
which proclaimed itself for "peace and reconstruction" on any terms. This 
appeal, it was feared, had produced some impression upon the minds of the sol- 
diers in the field, and though the ostensible object of the visit was the ad%'ance- 
ment of his political interests, its real purpose was to rekindle the fires of 
patriotism in the hearts of the North Carolina troops, and to cheer and stimulate 
the entire army. I jiad supposed that I knew him thoroughly and appreciated 
him fully, but I had no conception of his gifts as an orator and of the potency of 
his personal magnetism until this memorable occasion. 

Inspired alike ])y the peculiar surroundings and the importance of his mission 
he transcended himself and produced an impression upon the army, from its 
great captain to its humblest private, M'hich displayed itself in the wildest enthu- 
siasm for the cause and the most intense idolatry for its eloquent advocate. 

That he should have been thus inspired is not surprising, for the circumstances 
which surrounded him would have stirred the heart of any man. 

General Lee ordered a general review in his special honoi — an incident, I 
believe, without parallel in the history of the army. 

Upon an immense plain, in the immediate neighborhood of Orange Court 
House, there were assembled the troops which composed tlie then unconquered 
Army of Northern Virginia. These were clad in rags, but wreathed with vic- 
tory; their flags were soiled and tattered, but upon them were inscribed the 
immortal names of Cold Harbor, Manassas, and South Mountain; their arms 
were battered and blackened, but their fire startled the nations and reverberated 
around the world; their bands were decimated and out of tune, but they still 
discoursed the inspiring strains of "Di.xie,"' "The bonny blue flag," and "The 
girl I. left behind me." And though many a gallant leader was absent because 
"off duty" forever, Jackson, Longstreet, Stuart, Early, Ewell, Hill, Rhodes, 
Gordon, Hampton, Pettigrew. and Fitzhugh Lee were there to do honor to Caro- 
lina's illustrious son. 

Arrayed in two confronting lines, and with their bronzed faces lieaming with 
pleasure and e.xpectancy, the noble veterans awaited the coming of the old chief- 
tains whom they had followed in triumph so long, and of the youthful governor 
whose devotion to the cause and lender care of his own troops had already 
made him the idol of them all. Finally the cannon boomed and General Lee 
and Cjovernor Vanck appeared, and, amid a storm of enthusiastic cheers and 
an avalanche of friendly greetings, rode slowly along the excited lines. 



Life and Character of Zebitloii Baird J'auce. 177 

It was a stirring scene, and as I rode with this distinguished company and 
gazed into the battered but radiant faces around me and listened to the grand 
"Confederate yell" which met their great commander and his honored guest, I 
felt that it was indeed an occasion to be remembered, and realized that I stood 
in the presence of heroes and conquerors — of the men who had made history, 
and even from their enemies the reputation of being '• the bravest soldiers who 
ever marched to the music of battle." 

So soon as the review— if that military love feast can be so designated — was 
ended the men and officers came crowding around the elevated platform which 
had been prepared for tlie orator and for two hours gave him their most earnest 
attention. 

The day was truly a proud one for North Carolina and for her gifted son, and 
a more appropriate, effective, and eloquent address was never uttered by human 
lips. Under the influence of his rich and varied imagery, his happy and graphic 
illustrations, his masterly grasp and inner meaning, trenchant thrusts and touch- 
ing allusions, his stirring appeals antl deep pathos, and, in a word, his magnifi- 
cent and resistless eloquence, the audience was stirred, enraptured, enthused, 
and carried away as if by the spell of a magician. Not a man who heard the 
impassioned outburst of patriotic inspiration would have hesitated to die for his 
country; and I am convinced that in many an hour of supreme peril afterwards 
it rang like trumpet tones through the souls of those who heard it, inspiring 
them to a higher courage, a nobler effort, a purer patriotism, and a more heroic 
martyrdom for the cause which they loved so well. If aught of lukewarmness 
or despondency had been produced by the machinations of a selfish faction at 
home, they vanished as the morning mist before the rising sun under the spell of 
this good man's matchless eloquence. I heard General Lee remark that Gov- 
ernor \'.\Nce's visit to the army had been equivalent to its reenforcement by 
50,000 men; and it sowed the seed of a friendship between those two true- 
hearted patriots which fructified even amid the dark days preceding the surren- 
der, and grew and strengthened long after the land which they loved so well had 
drained the cup of sorrow to the dregs. 

It was then that he made classic the term " Tarheel," which others had 
hitherto applied in derision to the North Carolina soldiers, by addressing them as 
"fellow-Tarheels" and demonstrating that the sobriquet was but a synonym of 
that tenacious courage which made them stick to their post in the hour of danger 
upon so many hard-fought fields to their own imperishable honor and to the 
eternal gloiy of the mother State, and even afterwards, during the war and up to 
the present moment, the most subtle compliment which can be paid to a North 
Carolinian who followed the banner of the Confederacy in all of its vicissitudes 
of fortune un'il it was furled forever at Appomattox is to call him by that homely 
but blood-baptized appellation of '• Tarheel." 

It was of this speech that Gen. J. E, B. Stuart said that 
"if the test of eloquence is its effect, this speech was the 
S Mis 151 12 



178 Address of Mr. Woodard of NortJi Carolina. 

most eloquent ever delivered." At the close of the war 
he was arrested and imprisoned here in the Old Capitol 
Prison. He was soon released, returned to his home, and 
engaged in the practice of his profession. He was a well- 
equipped and successful lawyer. He often told with keen 
enjoyment of the compliment paid him when a young law- 
yer attending the court of his mountain district. Many of 
the ablest lawyers in the State lived in this district. 

Several of the mountaineers were on the court green 
discussino- the merits of the lawvers who were in attend- 

o 

ance upon the court. At the close of the discussion one 
of them said: "Well, if that young man, Zee Vance, 
ever gets by the judge I would rather have him than any 
of those old lawyers." While not a high compliment to 
his legal ability at the time, yet it was a marked tribute 
to his power before the people; but it was not long before 
he could ' ' get by the judge, ' ' for he soon became one of the 
leading lawyers in the State. 

One of the last speeches made by Senator Vance in the 
Senate was a legal argument to sustain the position that 
the governor of a State had no power to appoint a Sena- 
tor to fill a vacancy caused by the failure of the legislature 
to elect. This speech was an able and luminous constitu- 
tional argument, and, though the views sustained by him 
were not at that time entertained by a majority of the 
Committee on Privileges and Elections or of the Senate, 
his argument convinced a majority of that body that his 
was the correct view of the question. The distinguished 
gentleman who now presides over the Senate with so 
much ability, in speaking of Senator Vance, said to me 
that this speech was the ablest presentation of the ques- 
tion made by any Senator, although many of the ablest 



Life and Character of Zebu/on Baird Vance. 179 

lawyers of that body engaged in the discussion. No higher 
compliment could be paid to his ability as a lawyer. He 
was a great political leader. The people of his State 
gladly gave him every position of honor in their gift. I 
doubt, Mr. Speaker, if there ever lived a man in our coun- 
try who had the influence and power in his State that was 
accorded Senator Vance. He had their love and confi- 
dence. In almost every home in North Carolina, whether 
it be a cabin, in the mountain cave, or the brick mansion of 
the city, upon its walls the genial and kindly countenance 
of Senator Vance looks down upon you. Hundreds of 
children of the State bear his name. The people confided 
in his wisdom, reverenced his integrity, and loved him for 
his own sake. 

One has well said: 

His wise sayings, his sparkling witticisms, his charming humor, were the 
guide, the light, and cheer of every hearthstone in the State. His kindly nature, 
his true manliness, his peerless intellect, his clear judgment, made him the wel- 
come, honored guest of the cottage of the poor and the mansion of the rich. 
The lewish theocracy guarded the law with such jealousy that he who but laid 
his hand upon the ark was stricken with death. With that same care he stood 
before our constitution in times of peril, when elsewhere the law was silent amid 
the clash of arms. Did he ever fail in his devotion to North Carolina? Had he 
an enemy who was not also her enemy ? 

As a campaign speaker he was unequaled, and 1 doubt if 
in the last quarter of a century there was a public speaker 
in this country who was so effective on the stump. He was 
a great orator. His wit, his eloquence, his logic, charmed 
his audiences, and no one who came to hear him ever grew 
wearied. He was a masterful humorist. He had superior 
literary tastes.- His lectures and literary addresses are all 
models of a clear, chaste, and vigorous style, oftentimes elo- 
quent, and always evidencing thorough acquaintance with 
the best literarv thouglit of the day. It will be fortunate 



i8o Address of Mr. Woodard of North Carolina. 

if the lectures and addresses he delivered on various sub- 
jects and his speeches in the Senate can be preserved in 
some permanent form. The volume containing them 
would be a most valuable contribution to the literature of 
our country. 

But, Mr. Speaker, the work which has entitled Senator 
Vance to a most conspicuous position among the great 
men of the country is his labors in the United States 
Senate. Coming to that body preceded by a reputation as 
a statesman of ability, he was soon recognized as one of its 
ablest members and was assigned to membership on the 
leading committees of that body. Recognizing at that 
time that in the near future the great questions which 
would confront Congress for settlement would be the 
proper adjustment of the tariff taxation and a just settle- 
ment of the financial question, he began the thorough 
study of these questions, and it has been well said by his 
associates in that body that no Senator discussed them 
with more power and ability than did Senator Vance. 
When the McKinley bill was pending in the Senate Sena- 
tor Vance, as a member of the Finance Committee, was 
the recognized leader of his party, and the burden of the 
debate of that bill fell largely upon him. The student of 
the difficult and complex question of the tariff can find in 
the literature of that subject no more valuable material for 
its mastery than the speeches of Senator Vance, and upon 
most of the important questions coming before that body 
he spoke and always with singular force and ability. As 
Senator Gray has so well said: 

His equipment as an orator was strong and unique. There are few of us who 
can not recall the delight occasioned by the display of his wit, and how story, 
epigram, and apt illustration lighted up many a tedious discussion, his clearness 



Life and Character of Zebulon Baird Wince. i8i 

of mental vision making many a crooked path straight. No debate was ever dull 
in which he was engaged, and no one cared to leave this Chamber when Vance 
was on the floor. 

Senator Vance gave much thought and study to the 
financial question and was a strong advocate of the resto- 
ration of silver to the position it occupied prior to 1873, 
believing that the free coinage of silver would promote the 
best interests of the people of the whole country. 

The last speech he made in the Senate was in opposition 
to the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law. I always 
considered it a great privilege to have heard this speech, 
by many considered one of the ablest ever delivered in the 
Senate. 

Fatal disease had already laid its hand upon him. His 
stalwart frame had grown feeble and weak, his voice had 
lost much of its peculiar charm and power. He was 
speakijig when I entered the Senate. Almost every Sen- 
ator was in his seat, listening eagerly to the powerful 
argument he was making. He had not proceeded long 
before all evidence of his feeble condition had seemingly 
passed away, and feeling, as he no doubt did, that this 
might be his last appeal for legislation believed by him to 
be vital for the best interests of his people, he husbanded 
all his strength and for nearly two hours held the undivided 
attention of the Senate. It was a great speech, enlivened 
by the flashes of his wit and humor, his argument sus- 
tained by his powerful logic. It deserves to rank among 
the ablest delivered by any Senator during that memorable 
debate. 

At the close of the extra session he went to Black 
Mountain, hoping to regain his health in the bracing and 
health-giving air of his beautiful mountain home. 



1 82 Address of Mr. Woodard of NortJi Carolina. 

He returned at the regular session, but it was apparent 
to his friends that his career was ended. At his home 
in this city he was confined for many weeks. I saw him 
often. He was the same genial, kindly man. k.\\ hour 
spent with him was always a pleasant memory. 

He was buried in the beautiful cemetery at Asheville, at 
the foot of the mountains he loved so well. Others have 
spoken of the deep grief manifested by all classes of our 
people, and of the honors paid his memory. In every 
town in the State services were held, addresses made, and 
resolutions adopted expressive of the sorrow of our people 
and of their appreciation of his character and services. He 
sleeps well, awaiting the resurrection morn. 



Life LDid Character of Zebuloii Baird \ 'ance. 183 



Address of Mr. Crawford. 

Mr. Speaker: We pause to-da}- to pay a tribute of respect 
to the meuiory of the late Senator Vance — to drop a tear, 
as it were, on his grave. Eulogy, at this time and place, 
can but imperfectly outline the character and public serv- 
ice of the dead patriot and statesman. It must be left to 
the historian to review and analyze the great life work 
of the peerless and incomparable Vance and give him his 
true place in his country's history. 

Zebulon Baird Vance was born in Buncombe County, 
N. C, May 13, 1830, in the district which I have the honor 
to represent. He was not surrounded b)- the luxuries of 
wealth, but the ordinary comforts of life, and it may be 
said that his greatest heritage was a poverty that gave him 
an opportunity to build his own fortune — and he built as 
a master builder. Nature endowed him with a double por- 
tion of the essential elements of true greatness and cast his 
lot among the beautiful and picturesque Alleghanies, in the 
very heart of the "Land of the Sky," in the shadow, as 
it were, of Mount Mitchell, Pisgah, and a score of other 
peaks whose summits pierce the clouds 6,000 feet above 
the sea. That portion of North Carolina was then compar- 
ati\ ely an isolated spot, where the busy ways of trade had 
not been learned, and where the tireless march of progress 
had scarcely tread — 

A solitude 
Of vast extent, untouched by hand of art, 
Where Nature sowed herself 
And reap'd her crops. 



184 Address of Mr. Crazuford of North Carolina. 

To him these mountains were an inspiration; upon their 
grandeur his soul feasted, and his young life was filled with 
a love and admiration for the beautiful and sublime in na- 
ture. The fountain of his aspiration was fed by nature her- 
self, and from her open book he learned his most valuable 
lessons. The breeze that winged its way from mountain 
cavern, the sunbeam that frolicked with the leafy forest, 
the flower that smiled upon the grassy dell, the brook that 
lisped its never-ending song, all had a message for him, 
and in them and beyond them all he saw and realized the 
power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God. 

The intellectual faculties of young Vance were aided by 
an indomitable will power, and he seized every opportunity 
within his grasp for acquiring an education. After attend- 
ing the best schools of the community he took a course at 
Washington College, Tennessee, and subsequently a select 
course, including law, at the University of North Carolina. 
He located in x\sheville to practice his profession, and at 
the age of twenty-two he was prosecuting attorney of Bun- 
combe County; at twenty-four he was a member of the 
legislature, and at twenty-eight he was elected to Congress 
to fill the unexpired term of Thomas L. Clingman, who 
had been appointed to the Senate. The district had been 
largely Democratic, and the part}- had for a candidate a 
strong exponent in W. W. Avery. But, contrary to all ex- 
pectation, the Whigs carried it, electing Vance by a hand- 
some majority — the youngest man North Carolina ever sent 
to Congress. He was again elected in i860 over Col. David 
Coleman. 

His term in the House was brief, but he made for him- 
self a national reputation, and by his faithful and efficient 



Life and Character of Zehidon Baird J 'a nee. 185 

services he endeared himself more than ever to the people 
of his State. He was a strong- Union man and opposed 
secession with all the ardor of his vigorous nature, but 
surrendered his judgment to the wisdom of his sovereign 
State when she withdrew from the Union. He resigned 
his seat in Congress, came home, organized a company, 
and went to the seat of war. In a few months he was 
made colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina, and 
participated in the ''seven days' fight" around Richmond. 
In 1862, while in the field, he was elected governor over 
Col. William Johnson. 

His administration was more aggressive than that of any 
other governor of the seceded States, and he was known as 
the "war governor of the South." Under his administra- 
tion North Carolina mustered and sent to the war more 
men than any other State of the Confederacy — more than 
one-sixth of the whole number enlisted. He was quick to 
realize that the State could not equip and maintain her 
soldiers in the field without the aid of foreign commerce; 
therefore he purchased a splendid steamer in the Clyde, 
and successfully ran the blockade, exchanging cotton for 
arms, ammunition, and clothing for the soldiers and salt 
and other domestic articles for the people at home. 

The popularity of Governor Vance was unbounded. 
His wise policy and successful administration met the ap- 
proval of the people generally, and in 1864 he was again 
elected by a large majority over W. W. Holden. 

Mr. Speaker, fate had decreed against the dissolution of 
the Union, the resources of the South were finally exhausted, 
and the Confederacy collapsed. The leading officials were 
arrested and imprisoned. Governor Vance was brought 



i86 Address of Mr. Craivford of NortJi Carolina. 

to this city and confined in the Old Capitol, bnt after a few 
months was released. He returned home, located in Char- 
lotte, and resumed the practice of law. But never for a 
moment did he lose sight of the political situation. Dur- 
ino- the dark days of reconstruction no man did so much 
to make the harsh and unwise policy of the Federal Admin- 
istration odious as Zebulon B. Vance. While others 
hesitated and faltered, he struck straight from the shoulder 
with his keen Damascus blade, and never failed to leave 
a gaping wound. He hurled his thunderbolts against the 
carpetbag regime with the precision of Joye. 

I believe that when the historian comes to review^ the 
lone and illustrious services of Senator Vance to his 
State it will be recorded that the period of reconstruction 
furnished the brightest star in his crown of fame. That 
period when the South was in a formative state, passing 
from the old to the- new order of things; when local self- 
government was overthrown, and the people were under 
the iron heel of oppression; when his beloved State had 
been stricken by the devastating hand of war, and carrion 
vultures were flocking to feed upon its emaciated form; 
then it was he rose wnth the strength of young Hercules, 
and from one end of the State to the other he attacked 
these hordes of despoilers with a boldness and power that 
were irresistible, and rallied the patriotic and conserva- 
tive people to his support and overturned their rule of riot 
and ruin. Wise and wholesome laws were enacted, the 
right of local self-government was restored to the bona 
fide citizens, and no State in the Union with like advan- 
tages has made greater progress, and no people have been 
more wisely, honestly, and economically governed than the 



Life and Character of Zebulon Daird Wince. 187 

people of North Carolina. These results are largely at- 
tributable to Senator Vance, for he was in close touch 
with the masses and had great influence in molding public 
sentiment and in shaping political policies. He was the 
idol of the people, and they trusted him with implicit con- 
fidence and loved him as they loved no other man. They 
delighted to honor him and bestowed upon him their 
choicest gifts. 

Mr. Speaker, the issues of the war brought about a 
political revolution and made friends of former antago- 
nists. Upon these issues the Whig party went to pieces 
and Senator Vance became a Democrat and opposed the 
Republican party with greater zeal than he had opposed 
the Democratic party when he was a Whig. He was as 
true to the principles of Democracy as the needle to the 
pole, and at the hands of the Democratic party received 
his greatest honors. He was elected to the United States 
Senate in 1870, but was not allowed to take his seat on 
account of political disabilities incurred during the war. 

In 1876 he was nominated for governor, and the Repub- 
licans nominated Judge Settle, their best and ablest man. 
Their joint campaign was the most memorable in the his- 
tory of the State, and is fresh in the minds of all who 
heard it. It was a battle of the giants — Greek meeting 
Greek. They were both in the prime of life, and both 
were splendid specimens of physical manhood. The dis- 
cussion was masterly and on a high plane. Zeb Vance, 
as he was familiarly called, was a household word, though 
I had never seen him until the day of the speaking at 
Waynesville. But few days of my life are as clearly pho- 
tographed on my mind as that, and the scope of no debate 



1 88 Address of Mr. Craicford of North Carolina. 

is so well reniembered. The people turned out en masse, 
and the discussion took place in the grove at the Baptist 
church, Vance leading off. I remember the first words he 
uttered, and to the closing sentence he held me spellbound. 
Never before had I heard such an outburst of wit, humor, 
and eloquence. His great speech, combined with his fine 
physique and stately bearing, made him at once my ideal 
statesman, and such he remained through life. The Dem- 
ocrats carried the State, electing Vance by a majority of 
over 13,000. 

After serving two years as governor, he was elected 
to the Senate, and took his seat March 18, 1879, and was 
reelected in 1885, and again in 1891. To undertake to 
review his course in the Senate would be to give a resume 
of the important legislation of that body since he became 
a member. He entered the Senate at the age of forty- 
nine, with an experience of twenty-five years in public 
affairs and a national reputation which put him at once in 
the front rank of American Senators. For a number of 
years he had been a leading member of the Finance Com- 
mittee, and devoted most of his time to the tariff and finan- 
cial questions, and had much to do with the legislation 
along these lines. He led the fight of the minority against 
the McKinley bill and demonstrated that he had thor- 
oughly mastered the subject in detail. 

It was the ambition of his life to live to see the tariff 
reformed in the interest of the people and silver restored to 
its constitutional place as a money metal of the country. 
For these results he labored in season and out of season. 
Often he met successfully in debate the champions of the 
protective tariff and the gold standard. He had but few 



Life and Character of Zebiiloii Baird Vance. 189 

equals and no superiors in debate. His nature was pugna- 
cious and combative, but his sword was never drawn 
except in defense of the people's rights, and when drawn 
was never sheathed until the right prevailed. But he was 
a generous, manly opponent, sincere and honest, and never 
resorted to a temporizing expedient to gain advantage over 
his antagonist. 

Mr. Speaker, Senator Vance was a student, and by too 
close application his health was gradually undermined, and 
before he was aware he was rapidly approaching the grave. 
The last speech he made was on the ist of September, 1893, 
against the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law. 
With prophetic wisdom he predicted that there would be 
no legislation favorable to silver if not had at the time the 
vSherman law was repealed. This was one of the greatest 
speeches of his life, and he spoke with his old-time vigor. 
When he had concluded, I congratulated him, saying, 
"Governor, you seem to be yourself again," and he re- 
plied, "By no means; I am thoroughly exhausted." And 
the great statesman and patriot stepped out of the Senate 
and the doors closed behind him forever. 

For some time he had realized that an insidious malady 
was sapping his vitals, and with a hope of relief he sought 
the sights and scenes of lands beyond the seas. Perhaps 
the deep, heaving billow or the cheery whisper of the 
wavelets ; perhaps the soft caress of ocean's briny breath — 
perhaps these might lend a balm to heal him. He speni 
several months in Europe, visiting famous health resorts, 
but returned home without realizing his hopes. He re- 
sumed his duties in the Senate, but soon it became nec- 
essarv^ for him again to abandon his work, and he retired, 



190 Address of Mr. Crawford of North Carolina. 

as he had often done, to the sweet seclnsion of his moun- 
tain home in North Carolina, to enjo\- the companionship 
of tree and bird and brook, where he could lay his head 
upon the bosom of the solitude and feel the refreshino- 
influence of nature's heart throbs. This seemed to give 
him a new lease on life, and he returned to attend the 
extra session of Congress, in the summer of 1893, with his 
health apparently restored. But his laborious work as 
chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, 
the long, tedious struggle over the repeal of the Sherman 
law, and the worry and disappointment over offices for his 
friends completely prostrated him. 

Still hoping that the coveted panacea might be found, 
he went to Florida; but alas! he grew worse, returned to 
his home in Washington, and, after lingering a few weeks, 
died on the night of the 14th of April, 1894. He could no 
longer flee from death. The sands in the hourglass had 
refused to flow; the gateway to another world was reached, 
and life vanished like a rainbow on a summer's morning. 
His was a painless death. The angel poised in contempla- 
tive silence above the ebbing and flowing tide, and seeing 
the weary waves roll heavily against the shore, reached 
down and laid a gentle hand upon the flood — and he was 
dead. 

The climax of his life was heralded by a glorious sun- 
set, while the night drew on as gently as the summer's 
gloaming, and brightly gleamed the halo that crowned 
his earthly career as he fell Death's captive on the thresh- 
old of the n-ight. Too soon it seemed the autumn of his 
life drew swiftly on; too soon the hungry breath of ill-timed 
winter sought to steal away the glories of his ripening years, 



Life and Character of Zebiilon Baird J^ance. 191 

and his spirit, like a swift-winged bird of passage, took its 
flight to brighter and more genial climes. 

When the message was flashed along the electric wires, 
" Senator Vance is dead," the heart of every North Caro- 
linian was sad; for all realized that his death was not only 
a great and irreparable loss to the State, but to each indi- 
vidual a personal bereavement, for every man, rich and 
poor alike, could say, "He was my friend." 

The remains of the dead Senator were escorted to a last 
resting place among his native mountains in North Caro- 
lina, the dearest place to him in all the world. Among 
these mountains he was born, among them he spent his 
young manhood, to them he resorted for recuperation in 
his failing years, and there he desired to sleep while the 
ages roll on. 

The body lay in state in the capitol at Raleigh for sev- 
eral hours, and hundreds came sorrowfully to take the last 
earthly view of their own loved Vance. The whole State 
was as a stricken household. The stations between Ral- 
eigh and Asheville were thronged with people, hoping that 
they might have an opportunity once more to see the face 
of their true friend and trusted leader. Asheville was 
reached in the early morning of the iSth. The city was 
draped in mourning, and a sorrowing multitude that came 
from far and near stood about the streets waiting to pay 
the last tribute of love and respect to him who was return- 
ing home after the conflicts of life were ended. The air 
was pleasant and the morning sun shone brightly, but soon 
the sky drew a veil of somber clouds about its face, the 
mountains grew dark and gloomy, and as we stooped with 
tender hands and bleeding hearts to give him to the tomb, 



192 Address of Mr. Crazcford of Norfh Carolina. 

the very elements seemed to see our grief and dropped 
with us their tears. 

He sleeps in beautiful Riverside, and the rolling French 
Broad that soothed his childhood slumbers will ever sing 
to his moldering ashes. Sleep on ! 

There is 110 death ! The stars go down 

To rise upon some other shore ; 
And bright in heaven's jeweled crown 

They shine forevermore. 

Mr. BuNN. I now ask, Mr. Speaker, that under the reso- 
lution already adopted the House be declared adjourned as 
a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased. 

And then, in accordance with the resolutions already 
adopted, the Speaker pro tempore (at 5 o'clock and 18 min- 
utes p. m.) declared the House adjourned until Monday 
at II o'clock a. m. 



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